Help with saving different states

I know you can use history snapshots for different states of your file but it deletes after you exit the file so you lose those different states. Is there a way to save different states of a file permanently? If you can tell for version 7 and CS, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.

Manually.

Manually would be the easiest, or you can create Layer Folders and build different versions in each folder. Your file size may be massive, but it's a good solution for small changes and/or small files.

Good idea spectra, but I think i'd be better off just creating different psd's of each version.

Create design variations for clients more efficiently by saving different combinations of layers within the same file as Layer Comps.

layer comps in cs...