Here is a table showing major changes over the Magento version history:
| CE | PE | EE | Year | Major Changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | |||
| 1.1 | 2008 | API, bundled and virtual products, custom product options | ||
| 1.2 | 2008 | Downloadable products, layered nav on search, MySQL fulltext, FPT (WEEE) | ||
| 1.3 | 2009 | Flat catalog | ||
| 1.6 | 2009 | |||
| 1.7 | 2010 | |||
| 1.4 | 1.8 | 2010 | 3 level theme fallback (base/default), Widgets, WYSIWYG editor, 3D Secure, compiler (beta until 1.4.2) | |
| 1.9 | 2010 | |||
| 1.5 | 1.1 | 2011 | ImportExport module, add configurable products to admin orders | |
| 1.6 | 1.11 | 1.11 | 2011 | Multi DB support, persistant cart, minimum advertised price |
| 1.7 | 1.12 | 2012 | Mobile theme, auto-generate coupon codes, customer group pricing, REST API, EU cookie law, backup/rollback, CAPTCHA, VAT ID validation | |
| 1.8 | 1.13 | 2013 | Enhanced tax calculations, Redis cache in core, EE gets new indexing, "Always Run" cron jobs | |
| 1.9 | 1.14 | 2014 | Infinite theme fallback, responsive theme, cross-border trade, PHP 5.4 support, BillMeLater, PHP 5.5 support (1.9.1.0), MySQL 5.6 support,(1.9.1.0), responsive e-mails (1.9.1.0), product colour swatches (1.9.1.0), EE gets Visual Merchandiser, system reports, better multi-admin support |
Also, here is a repository Show archive.org snapshot which has all the Magento versions in git, allowing you to see which files have changed over time.
Posted by Mike Whitby to Magento (2014-05-20 16:44)