Earlier quoted context omitted.
Git and Mercurial are pretty similar, but I must say that I don't like the Mercurial branching model. It forces me to have a repository for every topic branch when I'm contributing to an open source project. You can read more about this here: [1] http://stevelosh.com/blog/2009/08/a-guide-to-branching-in-me... [2] http://hgbook.red-bean.com/read/managing-releases-and-branch...
I can't stand Mercurial branches. They make no sense once you've tasted Git's. Heck, Mercurial users / developers / websites as much as admit it sucks. The most-recommended way to branch that I've seen is to clone the remote, never develop on that copy (a "pristine" clone), and clone that repo to make your branches, pushing back into your pristine when you're ready to upload. Git? Just branch and code.
I'm not sure where you're getting your info. Sounds like you might be still thinking that the FUD from 2008 that the only way to branch in mercurial is to clone a repo is actually true.
Check out the links in the post you replied to for more info.