We should be clear, GC was never a feature in C++.
What these features do, which are being removed, is make it easier to implement a GC allocator in a standard conforming and portable fashion. Current GCs in C++, such as Boehm's GC, depend on platform specific hacks that are incredibly brittle.
As it turns out, these features do not make it easier to actually implement a GC allocator in C++, so they are being removed.
I think most people can differentiate between a language providing a feature as a first class native property, and a library or feature built on top of that language. Most people would not argue against the position that C++ does not contain a web browser as a feature, even though it's possible to build a web browser using C++.
Similarly, C++ does not and has never had garbage collection, but for a time the standard did provide facilities that was supposed to make it easier to implement a garbage collection library.
What these features do, which are being removed, is make it easier to implement a GC allocator in a standard conforming and portable fashion. Current GCs in C++, such as Boehm's GC, depend on platform specific hacks that are incredibly brittle.
As it turns out, these features do not make it easier to actually implement a GC allocator in C++, so they are being removed.
I think most people can differentiate between a language providing a feature as a first class native property, and a library or feature built on top of that language. Most people would not argue against the position that C++ does not contain a web browser as a feature, even though it's possible to build a web browser using C++.
Similarly, C++ does not and has never had garbage collection, but for a time the standard did provide facilities that was supposed to make it easier to implement a garbage collection library.