Jeff Key

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New source control: The most important "feature"

Today's news of the new Team features in VS 2005 are certainly compelling, but the most important feature has yet to be disclosed (AFAIK): Is Microsoft using the new source control? If not, will they when it's more mature (before RTM)?

It's no secret that products that aren't dogfooded aren't as good as they could be. VSS is a prime example of this. The product has been essentially the same for far too long, and even the simplest of features are lacking: Create a label. Rename a labeled file. Pull the label. Oops!

We've recently decided to move to Perforce (although we haven't actually done the move yet) for a number of reasons, but primarily because of VSS's branching model. The timing of the move isn't vital, but we are about to embark on a new version of our product suite and now is probably the best opportunity we'll have in the near future. If Microsoft is or will be using this new source control, it could influence our decision and potentially reduce some pain in the future. If they aren't/won't, then the decision is already made.

Does anyone have the low-down on this?

Posted: May 24 2004, 09:24 PM by jeffreykey | with 8 comment(s)
Filed under: ,

Comments

Eric W. Bachtal said:

Did you see Eric Sink's post?

http://software.ericsink.com/20040524.html#10169

# May 25, 2004 12:06 AM

Jeff Key said:

Yup. Also just got my answer at the very end of a great FAQ[1]:

Q: Is this the tool that Microsoft uses internally?

A: Not yet. However, once Visual Studio 2005 Team System ships, the Developer Tools Division at Microsoft will be using the source code control system full-time. This is one of our core tenets for change management: we will build the product we use internally.

[1] http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/teamsystem/burtonfaq.aspx
# May 25, 2004 12:11 AM

Jon Galloway said:

Sounds like you have your answer, but you may want to ping Korby (http://blogs.msdn.com/korbyp/ / http://blogs.msdn.com/korbyp/contact.aspx).

I hope Perforce is better than StarTeam. Maybe it's just poorly implemented at my company, but it's so bad I wish we were back in VSS.
# May 25, 2004 12:41 AM

Stuart said:

Jeff,

Before you buy Perforce you owe it to yourself to check out Subversion. Have you tried it yet? Sweet and free, my friend!
# May 25, 2004 12:48 PM

Eric said:

I'm not a big user of Source Control software (only experience was with VSS), but I have been using SourceGear Vault and like it very much.

Eric
# May 25, 2004 3:47 PM

Brian Harry said:

Yes, the plan is that we will use Visual Studio Team System internally. Of course we are a big company and we don't roll out anything at the drop of a hat. Further this is pre-release. Today the source code control team is using it. We have near term plans to roll it out more broadly within the Team Foundation teams, then into the rest of team system, then Visual Studio, ...

You get the idea :)

Brian
# May 26, 2004 12:43 PM

Jeff Key said:

Thanks Brian, I appreciate the feedback!
# May 26, 2004 2:52 PM

Jeff Key said:

Stuart: Yup, gave it a shot. The final decision isn't up to me. One of our guys is in charge of the build process and related items and there was something about Sub that he didn't like -- don't remember what it is. I might give it another shot at home, though!
# May 31, 2004 4:54 PM