In both Git and Mercurial, there's a very easy way to browse your local repository in a web browser that I didn't know about until recently. You should really try these right now. They've already made a huge difference for me.
Browse your local Git repository
git instaweb --httpd webrick # view at http://localhost:1234
If you prefer not to use webrick, you could install lighttpd and then just run git instaweb.
Browse your local Mercurial repository
hg serve # view at http://localhost:8000
Both of these tips came from this forrst post and discussion.