Things that make you go hhhhmmmmmmmmm???????? That's just not right IMHO!
When you advertise you're "compatible with" a product, I assume you mean you can do what you're product's MAIN feature is with that other product. However in VisualSVN's case, well.....that's just not the case!
The Version 1.6 (November 20, 2008) release notes indicate as one of it's bullets, "VisualSVN is now compatible with Microsoft Expression Blend." What does that one bullet mean to you? What would YOU EXPECT to happen when you opened up Expression Blend 3 with a project under SVN source control?
Expression Blend 3 now supports source control! So what would YOU expect to happen when you're in Blend 3? I'd expect something like this actually (similar user experience to using VisualSVN from within VS). I'd expect to visually see if files are checked out, ready to be added, I expect to be able to commit changes, revert, update, etc.
But here are two little dirty secrets. One, Expression Blend 3 is source control friendly as long as your using TFS (ala Henry Ford and black Model Ford T). Second, in an email I received today from VisualSVN Support, the meaning of "compatibility" means you're now able to "open up those your projects in Blend."
Huh? What? Before VisualSVN 1.6, there was a known bug causing you not to be able to open up your projects in Blend if you had VisualSVN installed. Since November, they fixed that, so you're now able to open up those solutions/projects now in Blend. HUH? What? Oh, you mean "compatibility" now means you're now able to open the program originally designed to open up that project? HUH? WHAT? That's not compatible, that's just a plain ol'bug fix!
What was the reason I was given for VisualSVN not being usable from within Blend? Blend 3 doesn't support addins. Huh? What? How are you compatible again? If you're not even in the application, how can you say you're "compatible?" Uh, hello.....'splain dat to me plez?!
So what's the big deal right? You can certainly still check out, commit, revert, show history, etc using Windows Explorer, so what's the major malfunction here?
In my opinion, that line in the release notes is just playing lying! Why? Cause when people do a Google search for "expression blend 3 source control" it looks like "VisualSVN is now compatible" and that very plain statement is misleading and just plain WRONG! Check out the results for yourself! The image on the right is the search I did tonight (11-25-2009) by clicking on the Google link, 10 of the 10 highest ranking links (100%!!!!!!!!!!) talk about VisualSVN.
What does that tell you? I tells me there certainly is some compatibility and integration between the two products. Ya sure I'm reading a bit into the Google results, but honestly, what does 10 out of 10 search hits tell you?
Now, don't get me wrong, I love VisualSVN's integration with Visual Studio 2008! VisualSVN is a great product, it's very cool! But come on guys! Get with it and stop the false advertising.
There! Now that's over, it's time to grab a coffee and get coding!