Except that if you added a new file then "git commit -a" will miss it out.
Git's UI is full of little sharp edges like that. You get used to them, but it's just needlessly fiddly to start with.
> Except that if you added a new file then "git commit -a" will miss it out.
Exactly like Mercurial, you mean? Try it if you haven't in a while: you have to call “hg add” to add a new file or you'll get “nothing changed” when you run "hg commit".
The reason why neither of them has a default “add everything in the current directory” mode is that this is how you end up with repositories containing temporary files, build artifacts, and secrets.
This is not a good example to base ”much better UI” claims on.
Or `git commit -a` — and if you're making commits that frequently it'll be in your shell history anyway.