<s>
Microsoft	B-Protocol
Visual	I-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
(	O
VSS	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
discontinued	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
program	B-Application
oriented	O
towards	O
small	O
software	O
development	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
most	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
systems	O
,	O
SourceSafe	B-Protocol
creates	O
a	O
virtual	O
library	O
of	O
computer	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
most	O
commonly	O
used	O
for	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
SourceSafe	B-Protocol
can	O
handle	O
any	O
type	O
of	O
file	O
in	O
its	O
database	O
,	O
but	O
older	O
versions	O
were	O
shown	O
to	O
be	O
unstable	O
when	O
used	O
to	O
store	O
large	O
amounts	O
of	O
non-textual	O
data	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
images	O
and	O
compiled	O
executables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SourceSafe	B-Protocol
was	O
originally	O
created	O
by	O
a	O
North	O
Carolina	O
company	O
called	O
One	B-Protocol
Tree	I-Protocol
Software	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
Tree	O
SourceSafe	B-Protocol
had	O
gone	O
through	O
several	O
releases	O
in	O
their	O
1.x	O
to	O
2.x	O
cycles	O
,	O
supporting	O
DOS	B-Device
,	O
OS/2	B-Application
(	O
with	O
a	O
Presentation	B-Device
Manager	I-Device
GUI	B-Application
)	O
,	O
Windows	B-Application
,	O
Windows	B-Application
NT	O
,	O
Mac	O
,	O
and	O
Unix	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Microsoft	O
bought	O
OneTree	O
in	O
1994	O
,	O
they	O
immediately	O
ceased	O
development	O
on	O
all	O
versions	O
except	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
SourceSafe	B-Protocol
3.1	O
,	O
Windows	B-Application
16-bit-only	O
and	O
Macintosh	O
,	O
rebranded	O
One	O
Tree	O
3.0	O
versions	O
,	O
were	O
briefly	O
available	O
before	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
a	O
Version	O
4.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
acquisition	O
of	O
One	B-Protocol
Tree	I-Protocol
Software	I-Protocol
,	O
Microsoft	O
discontinued	O
its	O
source	O
code	O
control	O
product	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
Delta	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
acquisition	O
,	O
Mainsoft	O
Corporation	O
developed	O
SourceSafe	B-Protocol
for	O
UNIX	O
in	O
cooperation	O
with	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
,	O
Metrowerks	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
developed	O
Visual	B-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
for	O
Macintosh	O
in	O
cooperation	O
with	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SourceSafe	B-Protocol
was	O
initially	O
not	O
a	O
client/server	B-Operating_System
Source	B-Architecture
Code	I-Architecture
Management	I-Architecture
,	O
but	O
rather	O
a	O
local	O
only	O
SCM	B-Architecture
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
allows	O
a	O
single	B-Operating_System
user	I-Operating_System
system	O
to	O
be	O
set	O
up	O
with	O
less	O
configuration	O
than	O
that	O
of	O
some	O
other	O
SCM	B-Architecture
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
multi-user	B-Operating_System
environments	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
it	O
lacks	O
many	O
important	O
features	O
found	O
in	O
other	O
SCM	B-Architecture
products	O
,	O
including	O
support	O
for	O
atomic	B-Operating_System
commits	I-Operating_System
of	O
multiple	O
files	O
(	O
CVS	B-Application
has	O
the	O
same	O
problem	O
as	O
it	O
is	O
built	O
upon	O
the	O
original	O
RCS	B-Architecture
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SourceSafe	B-Protocol
inherits	O
its	O
shared	O
functionality	O
using	O
direct	O
remote	O
file	O
system	O
access	O
to	O
all	O
the	O
files	O
in	O
the	O
repository	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
,	O
together	O
with	O
historic	O
bugs	O
in	O
the	O
codebase	O
,	O
occasionally	O
led	O
to	O
SourceSafe	B-Protocol
database	O
corruption	O
,	O
a	O
problem	O
noted	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
VSS	O
2005	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
added	O
a	O
client	B-Operating_System
–	I-Operating_System
server	I-Operating_System
mode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
mode	O
,	O
clients	O
do	O
not	O
need	O
write	O
access	O
to	O
a	O
SMB	B-Operating_System
share	O
where	O
they	O
can	O
potentially	O
damage	O
the	O
SS	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
,	O
files	O
must	O
be	O
accessed	O
through	O
the	O
VSS	O
client	O
tools	O
-	O
the	O
VSS	O
windows	B-Application
client	O
,	O
the	O
VSS	O
command-line	B-Application
tool	I-Application
,	O
or	O
some	O
application	O
that	O
integrates	O
with	O
or	O
emulates	O
these	O
client	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
Visual	B-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
6.0c	O
Readme	O
"	O
(	O
Readmess.htm	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Protocol
Visual	I-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
6.0c	O
 [ CD-ROM ] 	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
's	O
stability	O
is	O
criticised	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
way	O
Visual	B-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
uses	O
a	O
direct	O
,	O
file-based	O
access	O
mechanism	O
that	O
allows	O
any	O
client	O
to	O
modify	O
a	O
file	O
in	O
the	O
repository	O
after	O
locking	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
users	O
of	O
Visual	B-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
mitigate	O
this	O
risk	O
by	O
making	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
utility	O
provided	O
by	O
Visual	B-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
that	O
checks	O
the	O
database	O
for	O
corruption	O
and	O
,	O
when	O
able	O
,	O
corrects	O
errors	O
that	O
it	O
finds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
"	O
eating	O
their	O
own	O
dog	O
food	O
"	O
is	O
often	O
said	O
to	O
be	O
part	O
of	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
culture	O
,	O
VSS	O
appears	O
to	O
be	O
an	O
exception	O
;	O
it	O
is	O
widely	O
rumored	O
that	O
very	O
few	O
projects	O
within	O
Microsoft	O
relied	O
on	O
Visual	B-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
before	O
the	O
product	O
was	O
discontinued	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
the	O
predominant	O
tool	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
was	O
SourceDepot	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Microsoft	O
Developer	O
Division	O
was	O
using	O
Team	B-Application
Foundation	I-Application
Server	I-Application
for	O
most	O
of	O
its	O
internal	O
projects	O
,	O
although	O
a	O
VSS	O
transcript	O
implied	O
that	O
other	O
large	O
teams	O
use	O
"	O
a	O
mix	O
of	O
customized	O
in-house	O
tools.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
has	O
since	O
moved	O
on	O
to	O
using	O
Git	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
updated	O
version	O
called	O
Visual	B-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
2005	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
November	O
2005	O
,	O
promising	O
improved	O
performance	O
and	O
stability	O
,	O
better	O
merging	O
for	O
Unicode	O
and	O
XML	O
files	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
check	O
files	O
out	O
over	O
HTTP	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
included	O
with	O
Visual	O
Studio	O
2005	O
Team	O
System	O
editions	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
not	O
included	O
with	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
Team	I-Application
System	I-Application
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
also	O
introduced	O
a	O
source	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
called	O
Team	O
Foundation	O
Version	B-Architecture
Control	I-Architecture
(	O
TFVC	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
part	O
of	O
project	O
lifecycle	O
management	O
product	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
Team	I-Application
System	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
product	O
addresses	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
shortcomings	O
of	O
Visual	B-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
,	O
making	O
it	O
suitable	O
for	O
larger	O
teams	O
requiring	O
high	O
levels	O
of	O
stability	O
and	O
control	O
over	O
activities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
Visual	O
Studio	O
2010	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
no	O
longer	O
distributes	O
Visual	B-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
now	O
offers	O
Team	B-Application
Foundation	I-Application
Server	I-Application
Basic	O
for	O
smaller	O
development	O
teams	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
a	O
so	O
existing	O
SourceSafe	B-Protocol
customers	O
can	O
use	O
SourceSafe	B-Protocol
with	O
Visual	O
Studio	O
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
final	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
product	O
,	O
Visual	B-Protocol
SourceSafe	I-Protocol
2005	O
,	O
retired	O
from	O
mainstream	O
support	O
on	O
10	O
July	O
2012	O
with	O
extended	O
support	O
ending	O
on	O
11	O
July	O
2017	O
.	O
</s>
