Also note that things are already being fixed. ThermodynamicData seems to work fine now: http://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/296525

I have read that WRI intend to provide smaller update on a very (!) regular basis. Make sure that the update feature is enabled in the preferences (which it is by default!).

M.

I am not quite sure whether the feeling that there are many problems with the new release reflects reality. There is, of course, a tendency to discuss things that don't work in a Forum like this one.

The core functions are unaffected. There might be some function that runs a bit slower, but across the functions are generally faster now. I have taught a university course last year where we used Mathematica for modelling. One objective was to introduce a large number of different functions/algorithms/approaches of Mathematica. Generally, the notebooks run without any problems. You have certainly seen that 700+ new functions have been added; also there is the cloud service and many other things. I suppose that some glitches can be expected. But that does not mean that you should expect larger problems with your old programs.

Regarding the release cycle there is a list on wikipedia:

• Mathematica 1.0 (June 23, 1988)
• Mathematica 1.1 (October 31, 1988)
• Mathematica 1.2 (August 1, 1989)
• Mathematica 2.0 (January 15, 1991)
• Mathematica 2.1 (June 15, 1992)
• Mathematica 2.2 (June 1, 1993)
• Mathematica 3.0 (September 3, 1996)
• Mathematica 4.0 (May 19, 1999)
• Mathematica 4.1 (November 2, 2000)
• Mathematica 4.2 (November 1, 2002)
• Mathematica 5.0 (June 12, 2003)
• Mathematica 5.1 (October 25, 2004)
• Mathematica 5.2 (June 20, 2005)
• Mathematica 6.0 (May 1, 2007)
• Mathematica 7.0 (November 18, 2008)
• Mathematica 7.0.1 (March 5, 2009)
• Mathematica 8.0 (November 15, 2010)
• Mathematica 8.0.1 (March 7, 2011)
• Mathematica 8.0.4 (October 24, 2011)
• Mathematica 9.0 (November 28, 2012)
• Mathematica 9.0.1 (January 30, 2013)
• Mathematica 10.0 (July 9, 2014)

Cheers,

Marco