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Microsoft Updates Visual Studio Tools for Git
A more recent version of the tools will be included in the VS 2013 RTM.
Microsoft today released a small update to its Visual Studio 2012 Tools for Git. Microsoft Technical Fellow Brian Harry blogged today about the update, which carries the version number 0.9.5.0.
To use Visual Studio Tools for Git, Visual Studio 2012, update 3 is required. The tools download page discusses some of the enhancements, including integration with Visual Studio projects to track changes to an active solution, file status updates in Solution Explorer, and context menus for source control commands like Commit, Compare and Undo.
Team Explorer integration has also been improved, with a Connect page that allows developers to see local Git repositories in addition to those hosted by Team Foundation Services, which is Visual Studio's primary collaboration tool.
Other features mentioned include:
- Compare files using the integrated diff tool
- Resolve merge conflicts using the integrated 3-way merge tool
- View file and branch history (log)
- View details for commits
In the comments following Harry's blog posting, one developer ("Jim") asked if there will be a 1.0 release for VS 2012, as he was nervous that the newer tools may only be available for the next version -- Visual Studio 2013 -- going forward. Harry said that Microsoft "We'll do a 1.0 release sometime around the time that VS 2013 releases and they will be supported with VS 2012 and later versions of VS."
Microsoft is pushing out the Visual Studio Tools for Git updates on a very frequent basis. Since March, when 0.8.0.0 came out, there have been three more iterations.
About the Author
Keith Ward is the editor in chief of Virtualization & Cloud Review. Follow him on Twitter @VirtReviewKeith.