Although I agree with the overall sentiment, there are a few inaccuracies with this article. I am not defending TFS, just correcting.
To address the point about losing connectivity, VS prompts you to "Go offline" which removes all the readonly flags from every file and folder (I know...) and does a folder scan like a regular basic VCC would do upon reconnection. I haven't had a problem with this (as long as your copy is very close to the server copy).
To address the point about multiple merges, you can select multiple conflicts and perform bulk operations on them (accept server, accept client etc) and I'm pretty sure automerge is one of the options.
Also yes the merging tool is horrendous. I use p4merge instead for both TFS and git. Much easier to see what has changed and also easier to cherry pick.
I've had to deal with this a few times. I make a brief mention of it in my article but gloss over the details because I wanted to get on to more important topics.
In general, offline mode has been a terrible experience for me. It is handled differently in different versions of TFS. In one version (2008?), you go to File -> Offline Mode. In another, you need to either reopen the solution and get prompted project by project to Temporarily Work Offline or unbind TFS manually.
In both solutions, I've had difficulty reconnecting to TFS. In a complex set of steps that were probably "dumb" but seemed like my only options, I have lost changes made on my local file system.
My experience may vary from others, granted. Though, after talking to some colleagues about their experience, mine has been easy.
Fair enough. I guess the overall impression we both share of the offline process can be summed up by the word "unintuitive".
Also funnily enough, I've just come back after lunch to find something has killed SQL Server, which has affected TFS, forcing me to experience all the joy that is offline mode. I'll no doubt be swearing and cursing MS in a few minutes.
Turns out I was wrong. It doesn't clear the read only flag. Just makes you overwrite the file. The scary thought is that TFS only recognises changes if the file is writable. Hopefully it does when our SQL machine comes back up. I shouldn't have to hope though.
To address the point about losing connectivity, VS prompts you to "Go offline" which removes all the readonly flags from every file and folder (I know...) and does a folder scan like a regular basic VCC would do upon reconnection. I haven't had a problem with this (as long as your copy is very close to the server copy).
To address the point about multiple merges, you can select multiple conflicts and perform bulk operations on them (accept server, accept client etc) and I'm pretty sure automerge is one of the options.
Also yes the merging tool is horrendous. I use p4merge instead for both TFS and git. Much easier to see what has changed and also easier to cherry pick.