Announcing TFS Basic!

  • Article

If you are a SourceSafe user you know VSS is an easy to install and easy to use source control system.  TFS gives you a much more powerful system including not only source control but also work item tracking and build support.  Today we are announcing the new Basic configuration for TFS coming your way with Beta 2 of VS2010.  Brian Harry has a great post introducing the new configuration and going over some history and design goals.  My favorite features:

  • You can use SQL Server Express as the database
  • The install runs in about 20 minutes and configures everything for you automatically
  • It can run on your client machine

I’ve been using it to build out several new tutorials I’m queuing up for Beta 2.  It’s awesome!  Stay tuned for Beta 2 and make sure to give it a try...

Comments

  • Anonymous
    October 01, 2009
    Will there be a new tool or enhancement to the existing VSS importer?

  • Anonymous
    October 02, 2009
    You're kidding. You're trying to sell a revision control system by making positive comparisons to VSS?

  • Anonymous
    October 02, 2009
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  • Anonymous
    October 02, 2009
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  • Anonymous
    October 02, 2009
    Jason, as a small team leader I think this great!  This should be the final push to get our projects off vss. Will there be some sort of MSBuild integration? We are chomping at the bit for beta 2!

  • Anonymous
    October 02, 2009
    Great news!  Any chance we'll see a "free for a single user" version like source gear does with their Vault product?  If TFS had a lower cost of entry I'd really like to use it as my personal source control system.  It would be great if this Lite version was part of MSDN!

  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2009
    @Alex - we are working on the VSS importer and it will work well with this version as well as the full one @Joe - VSS is one of the most used source control systems ever @Praveen - Sorry to hear that; I hope you'll give TFS basic a try. The addition of integrated work item tracking and build support in one system is very powerful. After you try it out, I'd love to hear your feedback. @Chris - Blend will indeed work with this configuration. The Basic config really is the same core code made to work better on your client @Tom - This configuration comes with build support so you are covered @JC - we're not ready to talk about pricing just yet but we are working on making things very accessible

  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2009
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  • Anonymous
    October 04, 2009
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  • Anonymous
    October 05, 2009
    Neal - do me a favor and try it when it comes out.  The key thing we are doing with TFS is integration.  You get one place to track source control, all your defects / work items, and builds.  That combination is hard to get out of a particular one off source control system.  try beta 2 and send us your feedback.

  • Anonymous
    October 05, 2009
    Hi! I'm evaluating the new features on VSTS 2010, but since the PDC release I'm missing information about what happened with TF Proxy. Do you if there will be any change? Does it still part of VSTS? Thanks

  • Anonymous
    October 05, 2009
    Hi there! I'll surely give it a try. I'm hoping it to be a totally new product, way better than the 2008 version. The TFS 2008 installation setup was a nightmare and, worst than that, it was a product labeled as "2008" which didn't support SQL Server 2008 until SP1 (and didn't support x64 even after SP1). Now TFS 2010 need to win ours heart again, because in the other corder of the ring, the SVN+TRAC combo is (1st) very nice, (2nd) free and (3rd) open-source.

  • Anonymous
    October 07, 2009
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  • Anonymous
    October 07, 2009
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  • Anonymous
    October 07, 2009
    Keith, I'd love to hear more about your specific concerns with TFS 2008.  Are you referring to the Team Explorer plugin in Visual Studio?  There are many performance improvements for 2010 that should help improve your overall experience here (both on the client side and on the server side, making certain server calls faster).   Feel free to e-mail me directly with any specific examples to help me understand your experience. thanks Jason Barile (http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonba)

  • Anonymous
    October 07, 2009
    @Jason -- will TFS Basic not include the SharePoint project site features?  (IMO, that's just fine, as I think the SharePoint stuff in TFS is the weakest part, to say the least)

  • Anonymous
    October 08, 2009
    What level of MSDN subscription will you need to get to obtain a license to use TFS Basic? Are we going to have to the Team Edition version $$$$$, or will TFS Basic work with MSDN Professional version (much more affordable). Thanks.

  • Anonymous
    October 14, 2009
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  • Anonymous
    October 15, 2009
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  • Anonymous
    October 15, 2009
    @Pete Yes, svn is better and easier for source control. But it does not provide changesets, shelving and integration with work items. So with a great reluctance we are moving to TFS. It's just easier to setup full SDLC, then combining free parts and custom coding. Although I agree that v.2008 with it's 2008 incompatability is a joke.

  • Anonymous
    October 16, 2009
    I will be glad to try it when it comes out. SVN de-stabilizes everything it comes in contact with including paint on walls. Any eta on beta 2?

  • Anonymous
    October 19, 2009
    svn does provide changesets of sorts. Its security model is lousy, branching is still a joke and, well, wanting to do anything bug check code in and out quickly becomes a nightmare. That said, we may have to switch to it since our current unnamed vendor (not Microsoft) has dozens of major bugs in their latest release. I'd consider TFS, but when I priced it out last, the cost was prohibitive. I would seriously consider TFS Basic if the price were reasonable. My proposal: Give a TFS client license with Visual Studio Pro (there isn't much else in Pro over Standard) and give away TFS Basic for single user, $994 for anything beyond that. (Heck, why not give it away with the limitation of only one copy on a domain, or something like that?)

  • Anonymous
    October 19, 2009
    YES YES YES! This is EXACTLY what I asked for several months ago. PERFECT! :)

  • Anonymous
    October 19, 2009
    Will it work with Dynamics AX2009 - it only supports VS/TFS - would love to use any alternative - we've a small (4 dev) stop, so this would be perfect for Microsft Dymanics AX2009 too.

  • Anonymous
    October 20, 2009
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