Java Edition version history/Development versions

Starting in the period between Beta 1.7.3 and Beta 1.8, Mojang began to publicly release testing versions of full updates in order to get major feedback, especially for bug reporting. This enabled the official updates to be considerably more stable. While these versions are public, they are not auto-installed by the old launcher and are only auto-installed by the new launcher if "Enable experimental development versions ('snapshots')" is ticked in the profiles options menu.

For instructions on how to install a snapshot, read this tutorial. A (?) denotes version's info here is guess-work, possibly incorrect.

Note: This is not a page for reporting bugs; they should be posted on the official bug tracker instead. For more information see the Issues page.''

Snapshots & Pre-releases
In Beta, these versions went under the tag of "Pre-Release", candidates subject to release for 1.0 as "RC#".

The weekly snapshots post–1.0.0 are named by using the format YYwWWx. YY is the two-digit year, w simply stands for "week", WW is the two-digit week number within the year, and x is a unique identifier – starting with "a" – for when there is more than one release per week. The current 1.6 launcher will only download the current version's development's set of snapshots and pre-releases. All older snapshots will be stored locally. You are able to change to other snapshots through the profile editor.

As of Monday, June 23, 2014, Nathan Adams (Dinnerbone) announced that Mojang will start releasing snapshots on Wednesday instead of Thursday.

Promotional screenshots
Erik Broes (_Grum) appeared in promotional screenshots on the Mojang blog for a number of snapshots and pre-releases. He was often hiding, and occasionally simply his player head was present. These were:
 * 1.6.1 snapshots 13w19a, 13w21a, 13w22a, 13w23a, 13w24a, 13w25a, 13w26a and the 1.6 pre-release
 * 1.7.2 snapshots 13w36a, 13w37a, 13w38a, 13w39a, 13w41a, 13w42a and 13w43a, and 1.7.4 snapshot 13w47a
 * 1.8 snapshots 14w02a, 14w03a, 14w04a, 14w05a, 14w06a, 14w08a, 14w10a and the 1.8 pre-release

Jens Bergensten (Jeb_) has appeared in several promotional screenshots as well:
 * The 1.6 pre-release, snapshot 12w23a for 1.3.1, snapshot 12w37a for 1.4.2 and the 1.8 pre-release

Nathan Adams (Dinnerbone) has appeared in:
 * The 1.6 pre-release, snapshot 14w03a for 1.8 and the 1.8 pre-release

1.8

 * View all
 * 1.8-pre1 • 1.8-pre2 • 1.8-pre3
 * 14w34a • 14w34b • 14w34c • 14w34d
 * 14w33a • 14w33b • 14w33c
 * 14w32a • 14w32b • 14w32c • 14w32d
 * 14w31a
 * 14w30a • 14w30b • 14w30c
 * 14w29a • 14w29b
 * 14w28a • 14w28b
 * 14w27a • 14w27b
 * 14w26a • 14w26b • 14w26c
 * 14w25a • 14w25b
 * 14w21a • 14w21b
 * 14w20a • 14w20b
 * 14w19a
 * 14w18a • 14w18b
 * 14w17a
 * 14w11a • 14w11b
 * 14w10a • 14w10b • 14w10c
 * 14w08a
 * 14w07a
 * 14w06a • 14w06b
 * 14w05a • 14w05b
 * 14w04a • 14w04b
 * 14w03a • 14w03b
 * 14w02a • 14w02b • 14w02c

1.7.10

 * View all
 * 1.7.10-pre1 • 1.7.10-pre2 • 1.7.10-pre3 • 1.7.10-pre4

1.7.6

 * View all
 * 1.7.6-pre1 • 1.7.6-pre2

1.7.4

 * View all
 * 1.7.4-pre
 * 1.7.3-pre
 * 13w49a
 * 13w48a • 13w48b
 * 13w47a • 13w47b • 13w47c • 13w47d • 13w47e

1.7.2

 * View all
 * 1.7.2-pre
 * 1.7.1-pre
 * 1.7-pre
 * 13w43a
 * 13w42a • 13w42b
 * 13w41a • 13w41b
 * 13w39a • 13w39b
 * 13w38a • 13w38b • 13w38c
 * 13w37a • 13w37b
 * 13w36a • 13w36b

1.6.4

 * 1.6.3-pre

1.6.2

 * 1.6.2-pre

1.6.1

 * View all
 * 1.6.1-pre
 * 1.6-pre
 * 13w26a
 * 13w25a • 13w25b • 13w25c
 * 13w24a • 13w24b
 * 13w23a • 13w23b
 * 13w22a
 * 13w21a • 13w21b
 * 13w19a
 * 13w18a • 13w18b • 13w18c
 * 13w17a
 * 13w16a • 13w16b

1.5.2

 * 1.5.2-pre

1.5.1

 * View all
 * 1.5.1-pre
 * 13w12~
 * 13w11a

1.5

 * View all
 * 1.5-pre
 * 13w10a • 13w10b
 * 13w09a • 13w09b • 13w09c
 * 13w07a
 * 13w06a
 * 13w05a • 13w05b
 * 13w04a
 * 13w03a
 * 13w02a • 13w02b
 * 13w01a • 13w01b

1.4.7

 * 1.4.7-pre

1.4.6

 * View all
 * 1.4.6-pre
 * 12w50a • 12w50b
 * 12w49a

1.4.5

 * 1.4.5-pre

1.4.4

 * View all
 * 1.4.4-pre
 * 1.4.3-pre

1.4.2

 * View all
 * 1.4.2-pre
 * 1.4.1-pre
 * 1.4-pre
 * 12w42a • 12w42b
 * 12w41a • 12w41b
 * 12w40a • 12w40b
 * 12w39a • 12w39b
 * 12w38a • 12w38b
 * 12w37a
 * 12w36a
 * 12w34a • 12w34b
 * 12w32a

1.3.2

 * 1.3.2-pre

1.3.1

 * View all
 * 1.3.1-pre
 * 1.3-pre
 * 12w30a • 12w30b • 12w30c • 12w30d • 12w30e
 * 12w27a
 * 12w26a
 * 12w25a
 * 12w24a
 * 12w23a • 12w23b
 * 12w22a
 * 12w21a • 12w21b
 * 12w19a
 * 12w18a
 * 12w17a
 * 12w16a
 * 12w15a

1.2.5

 * 1.2.5-pre

1.2.1

 * View all
 * 1.2-pre
 * 12w08a
 * 12w07a • 12w07b
 * 12w06a
 * 12w05a • 12w05b
 * 12w04a
 * 12w03a

1.1

 * View all
 * 12w01a
 * 11w50a
 * 11w49a
 * 11w48a
 * 11w47a

1.0.0

 * View all
 * 1.0.0-RC2
 * 1.0.0-RC1
 * Beta 1.9-pre6
 * Beta 1.9-pre5
 * Beta 1.9-pre4
 * Beta 1.9-pre3
 * Beta 1.9-pre2
 * Beta 1.9-pre1

Beta 1.8

 * View all
 * Beta 1.8-pre2
 * Beta 1.8-pre1