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Microsoft Plans Scaled-Down Team Foundation Server

Microsoft hopes to convince development shops to move from its Visual SourceSafe version control management system to the more modern Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, by offering a scaled-down version of TFS.

The company on Monday took the wraps off TFS Basic Profile, which will work with the upcoming release of Visual Studio Team System 2010, expected next year. Matt Carter, director of Visual Studio product management, disclosed plans for TFS Basic Profile in a presentation at VSLive!, taking place this week in Orlando.

TFS Basic Profile aims to overcome two core objections to the full-blown TFS: high cost and complex installation, Carter said in an interview. While TFS requires a full server install, the new TFS Basic can run on a client device running Windows Vista or Windows 7. Microsoft is not yet revealing pricing, but Carter said it would appeal to those on Visual SourceSafe.


"There are still a lot of people who have stuck with Visual SourceSafe even though it wasn’t the most modern tool, because it was easy to set up, maintain and administer, and it required less hardware than TFS," Carter said.

"If you have a machine sitting under your desk and that's been the box you use for source control, you will have more options than you had previously," he added. "It's for those who want to walk rather than run with TFS. They can get up and running quickly and without the level of commitment of a full Team Foundation Server install, but when they need it they are able to migrate up."

Observers say Microsoft has struggled to convince IT organizations wedded to VSS, which has been around for nearly 15 years, to move to TFS. Many have moved to open source alternatives such as CVS and Subversion.

"Microsoft has been losing share because even though they have a better source code control solution than Visual SourceSafe but it costs more and requires a more complex installation," said Andrew Brust, chief of new technology at twentysix New York and a VSLive! program organizer who attended Carter's session.

"This is a way to recapture the people who used Visual SourceSafe and bring them back to the Microsoft fold with a clear path to upgrading to the full TFS if and when that time comes," Brust added.

 


About the Author

Jeffrey Schwartz is executive editor of Redmond Channel Partner and an editor-at-large at Redmond magazine. Follow him on Twitter @JeffreySchwartz.

Reader Comments:

Sun, Feb 7, 2010 junior

SVN is completely a joke for big projects. It's slow, requiring multiple scripts to glue their components together, over-merging your changelists, lacking of real team workflow support for big projects.

Fri, Jan 22, 2010 Le Chaud Lapin

I think Microsoft tried to lock-in customers by creating a highly-bloated, highly-complex product with artificial interdependencies with other Microsoft products. Marketing types like to call this "cross-selling" and "customer stickiness". I think it backfired. Note what Matt Carter says from above: "There are still a lot of people who have stuck with Visual SourceSafe even though it wasn’t the most modern tool, because it was easy to set up, maintain and administer, and it required less hardware than TFS," Carter said. Note that he says "less hardware" not "less software", even though the extra software required from Microsft costs more than a stock PC which should be sufficient. I agree with some of the other posters here. Whether Microsoft fixes this or not, it's too late. My company will be choosing an alternative to Team Foundation Server that does not insult our collective intelligence.

Fri, Jan 1, 2010 Toby

After wasting days on trying to get TFS installed and having followed the installation guide to the letter, my frustration has focussed my attention on some alternatives. Although TFS 2010 will no doubt have an improved installation process - it's too late in my opinion. Just how they were allowed to release such an average and bloated product? I'm thinking about moving to GIT, it's simple, powerful, free, easy to install and has Visual Studio integration via GitExtensions. No SQL Server, no Sharepoint, no Reporting Services, no tweaking XML files -- all in all no Microsoft bloatware!

Wed, Dec 2, 2009 Hot Male Hotness

Microsoft's inability to move quickly has already lost this battle long ago. Alot of smaller shops and consultants would rather user subversion over tfs. Alot of Microsoft's own MVPs recommend subversion or git over TFS.

Fri, Nov 13, 2009 Brian Las Vegas, NV

Perhaps Microsoft should consider a hosted TFS solution. Expose it on a highly-available site. This would eliminate the installation/maintenance/backup headache for small shops.

Thu, Nov 12, 2009 Brian Northern Virginia

After trying TFS and finding it to be all the things mentioned in the article, I've been using SourceGear Vault and have been quite satisfied.

Thu, Nov 12, 2009 Mike San Diego

I've been using TFS for several years now. It was hard to install, but once I got it working I felt a sense of being safe. I've lost too much work with corrupt VSS files. My experience with VSS was just too painful.

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 dirq Milwaukee

We're going with Subversion (VisualSVN server with Ankh). You can't beat free.

Mon, Oct 12, 2009 Kelly Arizona

I had TFS up and running in about 3 hours. That included the automated builds and ftp'ing the builds to the development box nightly. Not sure what everyone's issue is with TFS. I have also used SVN. SVN is a nightmare! Branching and Merging files on a team of 8 developers takes forever. Does SVN do automated builds? NO! It is free for a reason!! It is horrible! About every 1000 check-ins it will not check-in correctly because the local .svn folder was corrupt. To those on SVN... you don't know how good it can be. (Probably just jeolous!)

Fri, Oct 9, 2009 Chris Poland

Nobody said it can be done in under 2 hours. They said "in a matter of hours" :-)

Thu, Oct 8, 2009 Jason Short Mount Dora, Florida

TFS setup in under 2 hours? BS! The required SQL Server installs and service packs took over 4 hours on Quad Xeon machines in our office. There is no way you could have set it up that quickly. I don't consider Subversion to even be in the same league. It is like saying VI is the same as Microsoft Word. You get a million more features (not that you need or want them all). A simpler system is a good thing, TFS is a beast.

Thu, Oct 8, 2009 Jason Short Mount Dora, Florida

TFS setup in under 2 hours? BS! The required SQL Server installs and service packs took over 4 hours on Quad Xeon machines in our office. There is no way you could have set it up that quickly. I don't consider Subversion to even be in the same league. It is like saying VI is the same as Microsoft Word. You get a million more features (not that you need or want them all). A simpler system is a good thing, TFS is a beast.

Thu, Oct 8, 2009 Sean

Listen to Patel. VisualSVN/TortoiseSVN for the win.

Thu, Oct 8, 2009 Jay Patel Houston

I wouldn't touch VSS with a 10 foot pole. For those that cannot afford we have been recommending Subversion/VisualSVN Server for source control and TeamCity for build management.

Thu, Oct 8, 2009 Allen Conway Florida

I was at VSLive! where they announced the release of TFS Basic, and I thought it looked great. It would appeal to us because we are still on the archaic VSS, and at some point we need to move to something more current. This new version offers a nice entry point IMO.

Tue, Oct 6, 2009 Richard Los Angeles

TFS Basic may appeal to the stated target audience of VSS users, but shops already using SubVersion Will need to see a lot of features, a real lot, including must-haves, before they will switch to TFS. Free encrypted storage and functionality online might do it, sort of a "TFS Live".

Tue, Oct 6, 2009 John Saunders

VSS gets the job done if the job is to corrupt your source control system. Either CVS or SVN beats VSS without effort. This should not be surprising considering that VSS is about eight years old and will never be updated.

Tue, Oct 6, 2009 Jeff T

Herb's response below says it all - "in a matter of hours" is a best case scenario. Why in the world would I want to spend money on something like that when a free solution that fits my needs well can be set up in 5 minutes or less? Hopefully this (along with the Express editions) is a sign MS is reaching back out to developers they've been driving away for years with overblown, overpriced solutions instead of giving people what they really want.

Tue, Oct 6, 2009 Tom Philo Portland, Oregon

Yes, MS seems to always be designing for the Foutune 100 and forgetting about the smallville 10,000,000

Tue, Oct 6, 2009 Herb Heaton

Wow! I thought the TFS implementation was painless. Sure there were quite a few steps but we had it up and running on 2 virtual servers in a matter of hours. The complexity lies in how you decide to manage your applications. I would think that would be the same for any SCMS.

Tue, Oct 6, 2009 Sam California

Great, it will ease process to move from VSS to TFS. But TFS Basic Profile should better provide migration support to move from other major Source control Systems to TFS. And it is never too late to move to TFS.

Tue, Oct 6, 2009 developer

Yep, and VSS is free. And Subversion is free. So why buy? VSS is clunky but gets the job done.

Tue, Oct 6, 2009 Bryan Call

I think Microsoft is a bit late on this. Lots of us have found better tools after seeing how complex TFS was for a small shop. Now that I've discovered AccuRev I'll never go back.

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