If you want the previous ending of Chapter 7, use versions. If the project file is damaged, deleted, or badly reorganized, you need a backup.
A version is part of the project
Named versions live with a chapter, scene, or article. They preserve editorial alternatives and reference states. They help with rewriting, comparison, locking, comments, and returning to an earlier text.
A backup exists outside the current state
A backup is insurance against project-level failure: accidental deletion, a risky migration, a large structural change, file corruption, or simply realizing yesterday that today's cleanup was a mistake.
assets/img/bmaker/bmaker-explained-version-vs-backup-01.webpWhy versions cannot replace backups
All versions are still inside the same project. If the whole project disappears, the versions disappear with it. A backup creates another recoverable state of the project.
Why backups cannot replace versions
Recovering an entire project just to inspect an older paragraph is clumsy. Editorial history belongs close to the text; disaster recovery belongs at the project level.
A simple rule
Before a big rewrite: create a version. Before a risky project-wide operation: create a backup. Before something both editorially and structurally risky: do both.