NetrwC losing modified buffers

I know this isn't an official netrw mailinglist but I have contacted
DrChip about this matter and got no response. I hope someone from this
list has any pointers related to this issue.

I have faced a seriously daunting problem with one of netrw functions,
yet it's so trivial that it makes me think I'm doing something wrong.
The help text has (almost) nothing on this subject and I couldn't google
anything related either.

The only distantly related item from netrw FAQ is P17 and it suggests
disabling vim's autochdir but I don't have it enabled.

I have checked this issue on 2 different distros and vim versions, with
stock netrw and one from drchip.org - results are the same.

In a nutshell: netrw respects neither buffer-related settings (hidden,
autowrite/all) nor buffer states (modified) when netrw_chgwin is not -1
- it just silently reloads (!) the buffer in the target window.

My scenario: I am used to have autowriteall and/or hidden enabled.
Whenever I open a new file (via :e or other means), vim writes it
automatically or hides it - in any case, the buffer is still safe,
either saved to disk or still dirty as one of the hidden buffers.

With chgwin, netrw can be used as a file browser which doesn't produce
new windows for every file I'm opening, instead using my designated
window for new files. I expect that when I try to open a buffer from
netrw with chgwin *not* set to -1, it asks me about the buffer in that
window, saves it automatically or hides it, if that buffer is dirty.

Last thing I expect is netrw forcefully discarding it and reloading as
if I did ":e!", yet that's what it does.

Steps to reproduce:

- make 2 panels
- load netrw in one
- load a file in another and netrw_chgwin to it
- do modifications to the file
- return to netrw and load the same file - your changes are gone

:version (on Ubuntu)
VIM - Vi IMproved 7.4 (2013 Aug 10, compiled Nov 24 2016 16:44:48)
Included patches: 1-1689
Extra patches: 8.0.0056

cd /tmp
(from :help netrw-debug)
echo >>netrw.vimrc set nocompatible
echo >>netrw.vimrc so $HOME/.vim/plugin/netrwPlugin.vim
vim -u netrw.vimrc --noplugins -i NONE
:sp
:e .
^W^W
:NetrwC
^W^W
(select some file and Enter to open it)
(do some modifications in it)
^W^W
(press Enter on the same file)
(file is reloaded, changes lost)

Is this by design?

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