Git Extensions

Git Extensions represents a toolkit for software developers who wish to work with the Git platform more easily. It facilitates a user-friendly interface and intuitive management features, along with support for Windows Explorer context menu integration and Visual Studio plugins.

Three different versions can be downloaded. The complete one includes all the necessary components for running Git Extensions, such as Git for Windows (the native Git version) and KDiff (a diff/merge tool that the application requires when encountering merge conflicts).

However, any of them can be excluded from setup, along with additional tools: plugins, custom merge scripts, spelling dictionaries, translations, Windows Explorer integration, and Visual Studio extension. You can select the preferred SSH client between OpenSSH (the Git default) and PuTTY (better integration with Windows).

The two other versions that can be downloaded are a minimal edition (without Git and Kdiff) and mono, which doesn't require installation, doesn't include the setup modules previously described, and can be also used on Mac OS X and Linux systems.

The main app window is indeed intuitive, making it possible to easily create, open and clone repositories (including SVN and Github repository forking). As far as tools are concerned, you can use Git bash, Git GUI, GitK and PuTTY, as well as view commits per user and Gitcommand logs.

Plugins are available for automatically compiling SubModules, fetching the background frequently, creating local tracking branches and deleting the obsolete ones, locating large files, viewing statistics, switching proxies, generating release notes, and creating stash pull requests, among others.

A wide range of settings can be configured for Git Extensions when it comes to appearance (e.g. fonts, language, image size), revision links, colors, SSH, scripts, hotkeys, shell extension commands, plugins, and others.

The toolkit worked smoothly on Windows 10 in our evaluation, having minimal impact on the computer's performance. We haven't experienced any stability issues. User documentation is available on the developer's website. Thanks to its approachable interface and rich features, Git Extensions should meet the requirements of many software developers looking for a Git repository manager.