Answer
As of ArcSDE 9.2, we introduced the option to 'Register the selected objects with the option to moved edits to base'. This option is intended for those customers who require access to the most up-to-date representation of the default version by way of third-party applications.
Prior to this option, if a third-party application reads versioned data from the default version, only the data in the business tables are accessible to the application; edits held in the delta tables are not available to these applications. It is necessary to compress the database before the data is available to non-ArcObjects applications.
The move to base option was introduced for those organizations, requiring third-party access to the most up-to-date representation of the data in the default version, whose workflow may not permit compressing the database.
Edits are moved to the business table when:
1) an editor editing the default version performs a save, or
2) a version is posted to default.
This option is not available if data includes topology, geometric network, terrain, archive data, or when managing data replication.
Note:
More details are available by clicking the 'What's this' button ('?') as shown below: