OS X Lion Version control, the File menu, and me
I love Lion's idea of consumer-grade version control, which Apple calls Auto Save and Versions. I'm just not particularly happy with its GUI. That's because it relies on a new vocabulary of menu choices and on users understanding what's going on under the hood.
Take the save options for example. You can "save a version," "duplicate," etc. These are very good tasks to do. My question though is if these are the right tasks and the right names for the typical Lion user.
If you go out and ask a bunch of people what the "save a version" menu item means, you're going to get a lot of answers, many of which don't agree. In Lion, this menu option creates a new revision point for your document, committing your changes into the version control system for your file.
After saving a version, you can later revert to that save by browsing versions or by reverting to the most recent commit point. It's like Time Machine for document edits, and it's very, very handy.
As a developer, that's familiar ground. We've been doing this stuff for aeons.
For consumers, it's new. It's somewhat ground breaking. It's really putting the consumer's needs first. This is what Apple should be doing, where it should be innovating.
The problem is this. That "save a version" description doesn't really communicate what's going on. This is why you get all those diverging and conflicting "explanations" of what the menu option does. It's not expressing itself well.
I personally think Apple should have left the menu item as "Save." Save describes what's going on with the file, and communicates that in just four characters. "If I click Save, the computer will save this file." If Lion passively creates versioned backups, all the better. Not only am I using a simple 4-character command, Lion's adding value to that 4-character command for me.
Awesomesauce.
Engineers shouldn't feel obliged to differentiate new features when people can keep on using them as if they were the old ones. Apple could have just used the original name and added value to it behind the scenes.
The old save was good. The new save is better. But Apple really should reconsider that menu option.
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I love Lion's idea of consumer-grade version control, which Apple calls Auto Save and Versions. I'm just not particularly happy with its...
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I hope Adobe is working on incorporating this into Dreamweaver so there's another choice aside from running a Subversion server (for full integration with DW).
July 27 2011 at 7:29 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyFrom everything I have read, it appears that if the app supports versioning, you have no choice as to whether you will be saving multiple versions or not. This is overkill for most of what I do. And even when versioning is appropriate to the task I'm doing, I would not want every interim save to result in a new version being permanently added to the project. I am totally unthrilled with this new feature of OS X.
July 27 2011 at 6:37 PM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down ReplyIt's a Δ save. So I'm not sure I see the problem.
July 28 2011 at 8:22 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyNo. It's not. Where did you hear that and why are you repeating it?
It saves full copies of the files to: /.DocumentRevisions
I think Apple tried to show the difference of apps that support versions and autosave and apps that doesn't, so "Save a Version" is used for apps the support versions and just "Save" for the ones that don't. I agree it's a little confusing in the beginning but we'll get used to it!!!
July 27 2011 at 5:32 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyArguably, "Save" is the single most important command in a traditional operating system. IOS rendered the notion of saving a file irrelevant and Lion greatly diminishes its significance. It would be wrong to carry over the baggage of the Save command for the sake of tradition and convenience. We aren't there yet in Lion, but we are moving towards a future where saving is as unecessary in OS X as it is in IOS. Considering the mountains of grief the save command has dumped upon the world, I say good riddance.
July 27 2011 at 3:57 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI would like to see someone create an interface between Versions and git, committing in git with each revision.
July 27 2011 at 3:43 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down ReplyThat would, indeed, be pretty awesome.
July 29 2011 at 12:59 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI have the same problem with PREVIEW. I use an external drive to save PDFs of my utility bills and other PDF bills. Before LION i could just use the "Save as" command and get to my drive. Can't do that now. There is no "Save as" and "save' and "export" won't give me access. I now have to dance around and open the drive and folder before I can save anything in it. It used to appear in the save window but not anymore. It took me awhile to figure this out. Why these changes? It is not more friendly,
July 27 2011 at 3:33 PM Report abuse Permalink -2 rate up rate down ReplyVersions is driving me nuts. I have several proposals I've sent out previously that I go to (depending on the content), I open it and SAVE AS the new proposal I'm creating to send to another company. I didn't want to save them all as templates but I hoped that would be a work-around. NOPE. I saved one of the proposals as a template and I still can't SAVE AS a different file name. I'm wasting time on this that I simply don't have.
Anyone with any ideas on this PLEASE let me know before I start opening docs in Word.
that doesn't have anything to do with versions. i'm pretty sure word doesn't even support versions yet. ("Save As" is your clue that versions isn't properly supported)
July 27 2011 at 3:51 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down ReplyWhat app are you in? You probably just need to use the 'Duplicate' option in the file menu if you're in a Versions supported app.
July 27 2011 at 6:52 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhy are versions stored outside of the user's home folder, and hidden away in an invisible and inaccessible folder at the root of the drive? That basically means Apple considers them disposable.
This may be useful for someone writing a school paper, but for anyone working on more complicated projects will want to know they can copy something from an old file even years down the road.
People arguing both sides here and, oddly, I find myself in agreement with both. I think the crux is that, compared to the traditional save/save-as model, version control is a relatively complex concept. Now, mixing version control enabled apps with non-enabled apps is just a recipe for confusion(and data loss).
Like one of the users above I suspect that Save a Version will simply become Save in a future iteration of OS X.
cookingscience
Please write about something that actually has a dysfunctional user interface - like the TUAW comments. For applications that support versioning, "Save" is inappropriate. For applications that do not support versioning, "Save a Version" is not appropriate.
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TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
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