Recap
Merge replication is considerably more difficult to set up and manage than transactional or snapshot replication, but it offers several features that they don't offer. It's not necessarily the best choice in every scenario where you need bidirectional data replication (transactional replication is often quite adequate), but merge replication offers more flexibility than snapshot or transactional replication, especially for disconnect users and SQL Server CE subscribers.
The system offers a bevy of mechanisms for detecting and dealing with conflicts. You can control what is considered a conflict in the first place and who wins when a conflict is detected.
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