installing and using presta on local host before production and backup question

[switchex]

Hello and thak you in advance!

Ok, recently installed presta shop on my PC and i am so pleased with what i am seeing.. presta is an amazing software! I do have a few questions please: (please keep in mind that my knowledge here is very limited)

1- Just to make sure, using and developing my site on local machine before deploying it into a hosting server is recommend it and that's what everyone does, correct? I just wat to make sure that I will not be running into any issues if I am developing on my local and later deploy to a host.

3- As I develop, how do I keep a backup so that anytime i can go back to , let's say, 5 steps before?

4- I want to be able to work on my site on 2 different computers (home and work). which files or folder do i need to copy to the other PC so that I can continue work regardless of which one my computers I am using?

5- Finally, lets say i want to work on 2 or 3 different websites (projects) at the same time, how can I do that?

[shokinro]

Here is what I am doing, just for your reference
1. I am using Windows platform for DEV, but my hosting is Linux
3. I am using Microsoft SourceSafe to keep track of source code version control. I think there are a lot other options, like do backup daily, use online/remote source version control tools.
4. I am using remote desk to access my DEV PC from different location. It depends what platform you are using. I am only familiar with Windows.
5. I am using Visual Studio for PHP projects. I created different projects with different folders, say Shop1, Shop2, ...