I really need a digital incremental copy

This is a fair request. We will not do it in the current milestone but will consider it in the future.

@isidorn Thanks!

Yeah, I strongly prefer the previous number-based naming too, for all the same reason as @axefrog - and also because it ensured the new file would appear right next to the original file. With the new naming, the copy easily gets lost among the other files:

billing-method-status.ts
billing-method.ts
billing-plan copy.ts
billing-plan-interval.ts
billing-plan-status.ts
billing-plan.1.ts
billing-plan.ts
billing-service.ts

I'd encourage you to roll this change back asap, or alternatively introduce an option :-)

I also prefer the old method of copy. Perhaps an option could be add where the user can choose how the file is copied?

More details on the motivation why we did it #55128
Assigning to next milestone so we introduce an option for controlling this behavior.

@isidorn Actually, I thought it would only increment the number postfix added at the end of the file name. I can certainly see how magically incrementing numbers in the middle of the file name could be surprising and confusing to users, and possibly even a source of bugs.

Personally, I'd prefer that if you copy a file, it simply adds the .1 postfix to the name of the copy, and if you then create a copy of the copy, it simply increments that postfix. This is a simple and predictable behavior, which ensures the original part of the file name remain unchanged.

@thomas-darling It wouldn't work for the workflow I described in #55128 (comment) 😕

We have introduced a new setting
explorer.incrementalNaming which can have the values simple or smart.
simple appends the word "copy" at the end of the duplicated name potentially followed by a number. The current vscode stable behavior.
smart adds a number at the end of the duplicated name. If some number is already part of the name, tries to increase that number. The previous behavior.

The default value is simple.

You can try it out in vscode insiders in a couple of days.
Feedback is very welcome, especially on the setting / description wording.
Thanks!

To verify: make sure this setting behaves as described in my last comment and provide potential feedback on the naming of the setting.