# Microsoft Visual SourceSafe

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Discontinued source control software

Visual SourceSafe Original author One Tree Software Developer Microsoft Release 1994; 32 years ago (1994) Final release 2005 (8.0.50727.42) / October 2005; 20 years ago (2005-10) Operating system Windows Type Version control License Proprietary commercial software Website msdn.microsoft.com/de-de/library/ms181038(VS.80).aspx

**Microsoft Visual SourceSafe** (**VSS**) is a discontinued [source control](/source/Source_control) [program](/source/Computer_program) oriented towards small software development projects. Like most source control systems, SourceSafe creates a *virtual library* of computer files. While most commonly used for [source code](/source/Source_code), it can handle any type of file in its [database](/source/Database), but older versions were shown[1][2] to be unstable when used to store large amounts of non-textual data, such as images and compiled executables.

## History

SourceSafe was originally created by a North Carolina company called One Tree Software. One Tree SourceSafe had gone through several releases in their 1.*x* to 2.*x* cycles, supporting [DOS](/source/DOS), [OS/2](/source/OS%2F2) (with a [Presentation Manager](/source/Presentation_Manager) [GUI](/source/GUI)), Windows, Windows NT, Mac, and Unix. When Microsoft bought OneTree in 1994,[3] they immediately ceased development on all versions except for Windows. Microsoft SourceSafe 3.1, as well as the Macintosh and 16-bit Windows versions,[4] were briefly available before Microsoft released a Version 4.0. With the acquisition of One Tree Software, Microsoft discontinued its existing source control application, Microsoft Delta.[5][6]

After the acquisition, Mainsoft Corporation developed SourceSafe for UNIX in cooperation with Microsoft.[7] Later, Metrowerks, Inc. developed Visual SourceSafe for Macintosh in cooperation with Microsoft.[8]

## Overview

SourceSafe was initially not a client/server [source control system](/source/Source_Code_Management), but rather a *local* only system. Architecturally, this serves as both a strength and weakness of design, depending on the environment it is used in. It allows a single user system to be set up with less configuration than that of some other SCM systems. In addition, the process of backing up can be as simple as copying all of the contents of a single directory tree. For [multi-user](/source/Multi-user) environments, however, it lacks many important features found in other SCM products, including support for [atomic commits](/source/Atomic_commit) of multiple files ([CVS](/source/Concurrent_Versions_System) has the same problem as it is built upon the original [RCS](/source/Revision_Control_System)). SourceSafe inherits its *shared* functionality using direct remote file system access to all the files in the repository. This, together with historic bugs in the codebase, occasionally led to SourceSafe database corruption, a problem noted by Microsoft.[9]

Starting with VSS 2005, Microsoft added a [client–server](/source/Client%E2%80%93server) mode. In this mode, clients do not need [write access](/source/Write_access) to a [SMB](/source/Server_Message_Block) share where they can potentially damage the SS database. Instead, files must be accessed through the VSS client tools - the VSS windows client, the VSS [command-line tool](/source/Command-line_tool), or some application that integrates with or emulates these client tools.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

### Versions

Version Date 3.1 February 14, 1995[4] 4.0 September 12, 1995[10] 5.0 October 7, 1996[11] 6.0 June 3, 1998 [12] 6.0c (Build 9350) 2001[13] 2005 January 27, 2006 [14]

## Criticism

Visual SourceSafe's stability was criticised due to the way it used a direct, file-based access mechanism that allowed any client to modify a file in the repository after locking it. If a client machine crashed in the middle of updating a file, it could corrupt that file.[15] Many users of Visual SourceSafe mitigated this risk by making use of a Microsoft-provided utility that checked the [database](/source/Database) for corruption and, when able, corrected errors that it found.

## Microsoft in-house use

Although "[eating their own dog food](/source/Eating_your_own_dog_food)" is often said to be part of [Microsoft's culture](/source/Microsoft#Corporate_culture),[16] VSS appears to be an exception; it is widely rumored[17] 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](/source/Perforce). According to Matthew Doar:[18]

Microsoft itself used an internally developed version of RCS named SLM until 1999, when it began using a version of [Perforce](/source/Perforce) named SourceDepot.

The Microsoft Developer Division was using [Team Foundation Server](/source/Team_Foundation_Server) for most of its internal projects,[19] although a VSS transcript[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] implied that other large teams use "a mix of customized in-house tools."

Microsoft has since moved on to using [Git](/source/Git).[20]

## Updates

An updated version, Visual SourceSafe 2005, was released in November 2005, promising improved performance and stability, better merging for [Unicode](/source/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,[21] but is not included with Visual Studio Team System 2008.

At the same time, [Microsoft](/source/Microsoft) also introduced a source control called [Team Foundation Version Control](/source/Team_Foundation_Version_Control) (TFVC), which was part of project lifecycle management product [Visual Studio Team System](/source/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](/source/Visual_Studio_2010), Microsoft ceased distribution of Visual SourceSafe. Microsoft now offers Team Foundation Server Basic for smaller development teams.[22][23] There was a hotfix so existing customers could use SourceSafe with Visual Studio 2010.[24]

The final version of the product, Visual SourceSafe 2005, was retired from mainstream support on 10 July 2012, with extended support ending on 11 July 2017.[25]

## 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](/source/Revision_control)

- [Configuration management](/source/Configuration_management)

- [Software configuration management](/source/Software_configuration_management)

- [Change management](/source/Change_management)

- [List of software engineering topics](/source/List_of_software_engineering_topics)

- [Comparison of revision control software](/source/Comparison_of_revision_control_software)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** De Smet, Alan (2009-04-15). ["Visual SourceSafe: Microsoft's Source Destruction System"](http://www.highprogrammer.com/alan/windev/sourcesafe.html). Retrieved 2010-09-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Bolton, Michael (2003-01-28). ["Visual SourceSafe Version Control: Unsafe at any Speed?"](http://www.developsense.com/testing/VSSDefects.html). Retrieved 2010-09-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Company News; Microsoft Says It Has Acquired One Tree Software"](https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE4DB1231F935A25752C1A962958260). *The New York Times*. November 16, 1994. Retrieved 2007-11-21.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-auto_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-auto_4-1) ["MICROSOFT SHIPS SOURCESAFE SOURCE-CODE-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM"](http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MICROSOFT+SHIPS+SOURCESAFE+SOURCE-CODE-MANAGEMENT+SYSTEM-a016514393). The Free Library by Farlex. Retrieved 21 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["MICROSOFT CORPORATION ACQUIRES ONE TREE SOFTWARE"](http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MICROSOFT+CORPORATION+ACQUIRES+ONE+TREE+SOFTWARE-a015862138). The Free Library by Farlex. Retrieved 21 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Gross, Daniel (November 15, 1995). ["Go Configure"](https://books.google.com/books?id=pgcAAAAAMBAJ&q=%22microsoft+delta%22&pg=PA80). *CIO Magazine*. Retrieved 21 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Mainsoft to ship Visual SourceSafe for UNIX"](http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Mainsoft+to+ship+Visual+SourceSafe+for+UNIX.-a017983649). The Free Library by Farlex. Retrieved 21 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Metrowerks Signs Exclusive License for Microsoft Visual SourceSafe on Mac OS"](http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Metrowerks+Signs+Exclusive+License+for+Microsoft+Visual+SourceSafe+on...-a018995298). The Free Library by Farlex. Retrieved 21 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["SourceSafe database corruption"](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb509342%28v=vs.80%29.aspx). Microsoft. Retrieved 18 Dec 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["MICROSOFT ANNOUNCES VISUAL SOURCESAFE, AN INTUITIVE CODE-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140521123851/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MICROSOFT+ANNOUNCES+VISUAL+SOURCESAFE,+AN+INTUITIVE+CODE-MANAGEMENT...-a017409497). The Free Library by Farlex. Archived from [the original](http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MICROSOFT+ANNOUNCES+VISUAL+SOURCESAFE,+AN+INTUITIVE+CODE-MANAGEMENT...-a017409497) on 2014-05-21. Retrieved 21 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Microsoft Announces Visual SourceSafe 5.0, An Intuitive, Project-Oriented Version Control System"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140610074805/http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/1996/oct96/vss50pr.aspx). Microsoft. Archived from [the original](http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/1996/oct96/vss50pr.aspx) on 2014-06-10. Retrieved 21 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Microsoft Support Lifecycle- Visual SourceSafe 6.0 Standard Edition"](http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3036). *Microsoft Support*. Microsoft. Retrieved 21 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Microsoft Corporation (2001). "Visual SourceSafe 6.0c Readme" (Readmess.htm). *Microsoft Visual SourceSafe 6.0c* [CD-ROM].

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Microsoft Support Lifecycle - Visual SourceSafe 2005 Standard Edition"](http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=10433). Microsoft. Retrieved 21 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Best Practices for Preventing Data Corruption"](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181079(VS.80).aspx). MSDN.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-dogfood_16-0)** ["Microsoft tests its own dog food"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070108214545/http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5047467.html). *[ZDNet](/source/ZDNet)*. [CBS Interactive](/source/CBS_Interactive). July 21, 2003. Archived from [the original](https://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5047467.html) on January 8, 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2005.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["It's all Hype. - Jerry Dennany's Occasional Clue"](http://weblogs.asp.net/jdennany/archive/2003/07/15/10130.aspx). Weblogs.asp.net. 2003-07-15. Retrieved 2012-04-13.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Doar, Matthew B. (2005). *Practical Development Environments*. O'Reilly. p. 73. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-596-00796-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-596-00796-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Guckenheimer, Sam; Neno Loje (2012). *Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2012: Adopting Agile Software Practices: From Backlog to Continuous Feedback (3rd Edition) (Microsoft Windows Development Series)*. O'Reilly. p. 241. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-321-86487-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-321-86487-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** [Richard Chirgwin](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Chirgwin&action=edit&redlink=1) (2017-05-25). ["Windows is now built on Git, but Microsoft has found some bottlenecks"](https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/25/windows_is_now_built_on_git/). [The Register](/source/The_Register). Retrieved 2017-06-01.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["VS 2008 and SourceSafe Q&A - BUGBUG: poor title - Site Home - MSDN Blogs"](http://blogs.msdn.com/b/richardb/archive/2007/12/03/vs-2008-and-sourcesafe-q-a.aspx). Blogs.msdn.com. 2007-12-03. Retrieved 2012-04-13.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Krill, Paul (2009-09-30). ["Microsoft looks to move SourceSafe users to newer technology | Developer World"](http://www.infoworld.com/d/developer-world/microsoft-looks-move-sourcesafe-users-newer-technology-983). InfoWorld. Retrieved 2012-04-13.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** ["Visual SourceSafe Road Map"](http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa302175.aspx). Msdn2.microsoft.com. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-13.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** ["KB976375 - TFS: VSS integration with Dev10"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100416184257/http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/KB976375). Archived from [the original](http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/KB976375) on 2010-04-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** ["Search Product and Services Lifecycle Information - Microsoft Lifecycle"](http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/default.aspx?sort=PN&alpha=sourcesafe&Filter=FilterNO).

## External links

- [Official website](https://docs.microsoft.com/previous-versions/ms181038(v=vs.80))

v t e Version control software Years, where available, indicate the date of first stable release. Systems with names in italics are no longer maintained or have planned end-of-life dates. Local only Free/open-source RCS (1982) SCCS (1973) Proprietary The Librarian (1969) Panvalet (1970s) PVCS (1985) QVCS (1991) Client–server Free/open-source CVS (1986, 1990 in C) CVSNT (1998) QVCS Enterprise (1998) Subversion (2000) Proprietary AccuRev SCM (2002) Azure DevOps Server (via TFVC) (2005) Services (via TFVC) (2014) ClearCase (1992) CMVC (1994) Dimensions CM (1980s) DSEE (1984) Integrity (2001) Perforce Helix (1995) SCLM (1980s?) Software Change Manager (1970s) StarTeam (1995) Surround SCM (2002) Synergy (1990) Team Concert (2008) Vault (2003) Visual SourceSafe (1994) Distributed Free/open-source BitKeeper (2000) Breezy (2017) Code Co-op (1997) Darcs (2002) DCVS (2002) Fossil (2007) Git (2005) GNU arch (2001) GNU Bazaar (2005) Mercurial (2005) Monotone (2003) Proprietary Azure DevOps Server (via Git) (2013) Services (via Git) (2014) TeamWare (1992) Plastic SCM (2006) Concepts Baseline Branch Trunk Changeset Commit Gated Delta compression Interleaved File comparison Fork Merge Monorepo Repository Tag Category Comparison List

v t e Microsoft development tools Development environments Visual Studio Code Express Team System Profiler Tools for Applications Tools for Office Others Blend Expression Web FxCop GW-BASIC MACRO-80 Macro Assembler MSBuild Pascal QuickBASIC QBasic QuickC Robotics Developer Studio Roslyn SharePoint Designer FrontPage Small Basic WebMatrix Windows App SDK Windows App Studio Windows SDK CLR Profiler ILAsm Native Image Generator WinDiff XAMLPad Languages Dynamics AX BASIC Visual Basic legacy VB.NET VBA VBScript Bosque Visual C++ C++/CX C++/CLI Managed C++ C++/WinRT C# C/AL Dafny Dexterity F# F* Visual FoxPro Java J++ J# JavaScript TypeScript JScript IronPython IronRuby Lean P Power Fx PowerShell Project Verona Q# Small Basic VPL XAML APIs and frameworks Native Windows API Silverlight XNA DirectX Managed DirectX UWP Xbox Development Kit Windows Installer WinUI .NET ASP.NET Core AJAX Dynamic Data MVC Razor Web Forms ADO.NET Entity Framework MAUI CardSpace Communication Foundation Identity Foundation LINQ Presentation Foundation Workflow Foundation Device drivers WDK WDF KMDF UMDF Windows HLK WDM Database SQL Server Express Compact Management Studio MSDE SQL services Analysis Reporting Integration Notification Other Visual FoxPro Microsoft Access Access Database Engine Extensible Storage Engine Source control Visual SourceSafe Team Foundation Version Control Testing and debugging CodeView OneFuzz Playwright Script Debugger WinDbg xUnit.net Delivery Active Setup ClickOnce npm NuGet vcpkg Web Platform Installer Windows Installer WiX Windows Package Manager Microsoft Store Category

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Microsoft Visual SourceSafe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Visual_SourceSafe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Visual_SourceSafe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.