Microsoft Visual SourceSafe is a file-level version control system that permits many types of organizations to work on several project versions at the same time. This capability is particularly beneficial in a software development environment, where it is used in maintaining parallel code versions. However, the product can also be used to maintain files for any other type of team.

Visual SourceSafe supports cross-platform development by allowing collaborative editing and sharing of data. It is designed to handle the tracking and portability issues involved in maintaining one source control base, for example, a software code base, across multiple operating systems. For developers, Visual SourceSafe accommodates reusable or object-oriented code. It makes it easier for you to track the applications that use particular code modules.

At a minimum, Visual SourceSafe does the following:

• Helps protect your team from accidental file loss. 
• Allows back-tracking to earlier versions of a file. 
• Supports branching, sharing, merging, and management of file releases. 
• Tracks versions of entire projects.
• Tracks modular code (one file that is reused, or shared, by multiple projects).