client tools. Versions Criticism Visual SourceSafe's stability is criticised due to the way Visual SourceSafe uses a direct, file-based access mechanism that allows any client to modify a file in the repository after locking it. If a client machine crashes in the middle of updating a file, it can corrupt that file. Many users of Visual SourceSafe mitigate this risk by making use of a utility provided by Visual SourceSafe that checks the database for corruption and, when able, corrects errors that it finds. Microsoft in-house use Although "eating their own dog food" is often said to be part of Microsoft's culture, VSS appears to be an exception; it is widely rumored that very few projects within Microsoft relied on Visual SourceSafe before the product was discontinued, and that the predominant tool at the time was SourceDepot. According to Matthew Doar: The Microsoft Developer Division was using Team Foundation Server for most of its internal projects, although a VSS transcript implied that other large teams use "a mix of customized in-house tools." Microsoft has since moved on to using Git. Updates An updated version called Visual SourceSafe 2005 was released in November 2005, promising improved performance and stability, better merging for Unicode and XML files, as well as the ability to check files out over HTTP. It was included with Visual Studio 2005 Team System editions, but is not included with Visual Studio Team System 2008. At the same time, Microsoft also introduced a source control called Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC), which was part of project lifecycle management product Visual Studio Team System. This product addresses many of the shortcomings of Visual SourceSafe, making it suitable for larger teams requiring high levels of stability and control over activities. With Visual Studio 2010, Microsoft no longer distributes Visual SourceSafe. Microsoft now offers Team Foundation Server Basic for smaller development teams. There is a hotfix so existing SourceSafe customers can use SourceSafe with Visual Studio 2010. The final version of the product, Visual SourceSafe 2005, retired from mainstream support on 10 July 2012 with extended support ending on 11 July 2017. Further reading Visual SourceSafe 2005 Software Configuration Management in Practice (Packt Publishing, 2007) Real World Software Configuration Management (Apress, 2003) Essential SourceSafe (Hentzenwerke Publishing, 2001) See also Revision control Configuration management Software configuration management Change management List of software engineering topics Comparison of revision control software References External links Proprietary