Quite easy for beginners to get hands-on experience with version control HTTPS- or SSH-based flexible authentication Simplified branching for hassle-free feature developments and version management Extension system for incrementally enabling advanced features Most commands are simpler than corresponding equivalents in Git etc Ability to run local Mercurial servers for demonstration/syncing purposes Good IDE support, often via solid third-party plugins Deep OS/filesystem integration (e.g. context menus) via TortoiseHg and similar utilities

Like most source code control systems, Mercurial tries to force a particular methodology on its users for no good reason. However, the underlying system is sufficiently powerful and there are enough extensions available that it's possible to work around this bias. The "every repo can be a server" capability is also very important.

The like that this revision-control tool is distribuited. So you can commit on your local system the changes that you make and when everything is done you can push the changes on a remote system.