[Crinus]

It might sound like i am trying to be a contrarian, but Java for me is a special case and actually i'd probably stick with Java 1.5 or even 1.4 which was the last Java that i liked (i always liked the idea of Java as a very simple OO language and i disliked it when it started getting extra baggage - useful baggage to some, but still it deviated from the simplicity). But really that is a case of personal taste. If you replaced Java with some other language, like -say- Go, i'd most likely go with the latest version (...although again Go 2 does sound like it might follow Java's trajectory, so who knows, but for now i'd use the latest one).

But honestly i'm not a fan of requiring the latest version of something just for developer convenience. It might have to do with growing up using outdated computers for years and seeing most programs not work or work slowly/badly, often without a good technical reason (outside programmer preference).