For free, ntbackup is effective and supports volume shadow copy service so open files aren't missed. It isn't exactly new-school though. It originated as a tape backup tool and things can get downright fugly. Its source path inclusion/exclusion handling is so funky I prefer xcopy for complex jobs.
Microsoft's synctoy is nice and simple for a<->b synchronizing, and free, but it needs .net and doesn't do shadow copies.
Syncback, as mentioned, is more full-featured, and free. The SE version adds goodies but costs a little.
Cobian backup is another interesting free one with simple version control. It can be configured to maintain the previous (n) versions of each file. With most programs you have to choose between synchronizing or adding, with the latter just stacking up new versions until you eventually have to prune the destination for free space. Cobian handles the pruning for you.
There are tons of options. Try searching places like softpedia.com for highly-rated freeware backup tools.
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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195
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