Microsoft Details Windows 8 File History Feature

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Still seems live VMS managed this better. I don't understand why that mechanism wasn't adopted when NT morphed out of that OS.
 
I liked having the Previous Version option starting with windows Vista and always welcome a better undo for those rare occasions that can save you a lot of time and frustration.
 
Already exist in Windows 7 as Shadow Copy feature so nothing really new except that is maybe more obvious to end user with Windows 8 and renamed. Also this destroys performance of SSD on the long run so it is pretty useless except for files you keep on separate HDD. Again System Restore is useless as well, because it is hit and miss thing. The only cool thing which is also in Windows 7 is Windows Backup you create on external driver for example.
 
I already keep external copies on NAS drives for content stored on internal drives, this could help automate the process more than the tedious manual methods or some of the badly written automated backup solutions I have previously used.
 
[citation][nom]belardo[/nom]Wow... sounds like an original idea.[/citation]

yup, sounds exactly like Apple's Time Machine.... even the backup interval every hour.
 
[citation][nom]molo9000[/nom]yup, sounds exactly like Apple's Time Machine.... even the backup interval every hour.[/citation]

I guess now we're going to claim that Apple invented the backup, right?

🙄
 
They're doing some good things in Windows 8. ...but I'm still not sure they've balanced the harm done to the user-experience by metro and the way they've implemented it (i.e., not letting it be a choice for the customer) and removal of the Start button (I was never aware that there was a problem with the Start button that MS felt compelled that they had to correct so drastically).

I'll have to "listen" to you guys and the press for a few months after Windows 8's release and decide which, if any, of my machines I'm going to infect with it.
 
This, I think, is a good feature for your basic non-power user.

I'd put it in the same category as the "Windows 8 refresh" functionality built into the WIndows 8 repair. It's like doing a repair install on XP (fresh OS install without without deleting any of your files/folders). I used it not long ago when changing work PC's and migrating from an AMD box to an Intel box and it worked well enough and didn't require an extra medium.
 
[citation][nom]lradunovic77[/nom]Already exist in Windows 7 as Shadow Copy feature so nothing really new except that is maybe more obvious to end user with Windows 8 and renamed. Also this destroys performance of SSD on the long run so it is pretty useless except for files you keep on separate HDD. Again System Restore is useless as well, because it is hit and miss thing. The only cool thing which is also in Windows 7 is Windows Backup you create on external driver for example.[/citation]
File history can be set to save to any drive you want. This removes the issues with SSD performance degrading(at least if you have another drive in or attached to the system).
 
[citation][nom]scythe944[/nom]I guess now we're going to claim that Apple invented the backup, right?[/citation]

Hourly incremental backups and a interface that lets you browse through all previous versions of a particular file or folder and restore them with one click.... that's exactly the same thing as Time Machine.

No idea if somebody else did the same thing before Apple, but it's definitely not Microsoft who came up with it.
 
[citation][nom]lradunovic77[/nom]Already exist in Windows 7 as Shadow Copy feature so nothing really new except that is maybe more obvious to end user with Windows 8 and renamed. Also this destroys performance of SSD on the long run so it is pretty useless except for files you keep on separate HDD. Again System Restore is useless as well, because it is hit and miss thing. The only cool thing which is also in Windows 7 is Windows Backup you create on external driver for example.[/citation]
Shadow copy is much more complicated, and NOBODY knows about it, so it is unused. It will not destory SSD performance as it merely scans for changes in the journal, not the whole drive, and it requires you to store information on an external device, or at least a different drive, from the information being backed up

To others who down voted the apple fan, he is actually right, this is a nearly identical feature to Time Machine.

As this scans NTFS journals, does this mean no backup for FAT devices like flash drives? Because I would love to have that backed up.

I think this settles it, looks like I will be jumping on the $40 upgrade to win8pro, and finally building my 6TB server (still not sure if win home server, or FreeNAS though). I have been in need of a good central backup service for my files, and this looks to be it.

... If I were to point this to my video editing drive I wonder how fast it would fill up a 6TB server...
 
[citation][nom]molo9000[/nom]yup, sounds exactly like Apple's Time Machine.... even the backup interval every hour.[/citation]

Which sounds like Shadow Copies which Microsoft had LONG before Time Machine ever came out.
 
This is a nice feature ...

I'm not digging the MS Office-style tabbed UI they are using for explorer though. Looks WAY over complicated .
 
No idea if somebody else did the same thing before Apple, but it's definitely not Microsoft who came up with it.
Click to expand...

Love statements like this, I don't know the answer to this but it couldn't be Microsoft (facepalm). Microsoft has had shadow copies for a very long time, right click, select previous version and click restore. The button is now on the ribbon which makes it easier.
 
[citation][nom]jblack[/nom]Which sounds like Shadow Copies which Microsoft had LONG before Time Machine ever came out.[/citation]
[citation][nom]neptune3d[/nom]Love statements like this, I don't know the answer to this but it couldn't be Microsoft (facepalm). Microsoft has had shadow copies for a very long time, right click, select previous version and click restore. The button is now on the ribbon which makes it easier.[/citation]

Shadow copy is NOT a backup utility. It only saves CHANGES, which allows you to restore previous versions of a file, but it does not create a complete copy of the file.
If your drive goes bad, your data is gone.
 
Shadow copy is NOT a backup utility
Click to expand...

That is both true and not true, I think the reasons are obvious. The way SC works off knowledge of previous versions is an asset in many ways. Having a copy in another location is a good addition for sure, and something that has always been there in MS backup, another part of the OS.
 
I really like the idea of being able to backup into another drive. The Shadow Copy feature was great but it was not implemented in a spectacular fashion, often not finding a previous copy. Hope that this improves on it.
 
[citation][nom]molo9000[/nom]Hourly incremental backups and a interface that lets you browse through all previous versions of a particular file or folder and restore them with one click.... that's exactly the same thing as Time Machine.No idea if somebody else did the same thing before Apple, but it's definitely not Microsoft who came up with it.[/citation]
Version control is nothing new, but you are right, they are pretty much the same. It's a good feature, and being built-in is good.
 
[citation][nom]cscott_it[/nom]This, I think, is a good feature for your basic non-power user.I'd put it in the same category as the "Windows 8 refresh" functionality built into the WIndows 8 repair. It's like doing a repair install on XP (fresh OS install without without deleting any of your files/folders). I used it not long ago when changing work PC's and migrating from an AMD box to an Intel box and it worked well enough and didn't require an extra medium.[/citation]

NO matter how awesome features they will implement in 8 - Metro = bye bye win 8...
 
[citation][nom]neptune3d[/nom]That is both true and not true, I think the reasons are obvious. The way SC works off knowledge of previous versions is an asset in many ways. Having a copy in another location is a good addition for sure, and something that has always been there in MS backup, another part of the OS.[/citation]
Windows 7 home premium does not support backing up over a network -> huge fail.

Incremental backups over a network are possible in Windows 7 Pro and you can restore previous versions of a file from those network backup, but you can't actually look at the file before restoring it.
You have to take a wild guess at which version of the file you want to restore. You also can't search or easily browse through your backups if you can't remember the name of the file or where it was stored or when it was deleted.
 
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