Introduction

Team Foundation Server (TFS) is a popular companion for users of Visual Studio that provides Microsoft's approach to source control and project management. Developers working in traditional corporate software development will frequently use TFS as a way to coordinate their activity with that of product owners, quality assurance, and release engineers.

TFS is a separate product from VS2013, and exists in both paid and free (TFS Express) versions. The primary difference between the two is that TFS Express is designed for smaller developer teams and thus supports five users, while the full version has no such restrictions. Day-to-day usage will typically involve connecting to TFS via Visual Studio or the TFS web browser interface.

With the advent of VS2013, Microsoft has created Visual Studio Online (VSO). One aspect of VSO is that it provides Microsoft-hosted TFS service, which provides developers with an area to create and store their projects without needing to take on the additional...