1 GNU Emacs history, versions, and release dates
3 For more details about release contents, see the NEWS* files.
5 Most of the development history of GNU Emacs is available in its
6 source code repository <https://savannah.gnu.org/git/?group=emacs>.
7 However, in the early days GNU Emacs was developed without using
8 version control systems and was published via half-inch 9-track
9 1600-bpi magnetic tape reels. Although information about this early
10 development is sketchy, the following text summarizes what is known.
12 EMACS started out as a set of macros atop the TECO text editor, and
13 was first operational in late 1976. It was inspired by earlier work
14 such as the E editor of Stanford, and was based on older TECO macro
15 sets. EMACS in turn inspired several similar editors. See:
16 Stallman RM. EMACS: The Extensible, Customizable Self-Documenting
17 Display Editor. AI Memo 519a, MIT, 1981-03-26
18 <http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/5736/AIM-519A.pdf>.
20 In 1984, work began on GNU Emacs, a fresh implementation designed to
21 run on GNU and GNU-like systems, with a full-featured Lisp at its
22 core. GNU Emacs 1.0 through 1.12 were released in early 1985. The
23 next version after 1.12 was 13; this was the initial public release.
25 Here is a list of known GNU Emacs stable releases starting with the
26 initial public release. Entries in the list are of the form "GNU
27 Emacs N (DATE) TAG", where N is the version number, DATE the release
28 date, and TAG (if present) the corresponding tag in the source code
29 repository. Any commentary about the version starts on the next line.
30 Dates are approximate in the following list; some are when the version
31 was made, some are when it was announced.
33 GNU Emacs 13 (1985-03-20)
34 Initial release announced on Usenet.
36 GNU Emacs 15.10 (1985-04-10)
38 GNU Emacs 15.34 (1985-05-07)
39 Last version 15 release.
41 GNU Emacs 16.56 (1985-07-15)
42 First version 16 release.
44 GNU Emacs 16.57 (1985-09-16)
46 GNU Emacs 16.58 (1985-09-17)
48 GNU Emacs 16.59 (1985-09-17)
50 GNU Emacs 16.60 (1985-09-19)
52 GNU Emacs 17.36 (1985-12-20)
53 First version 17 release.
55 GNU Emacs 17.43 (1986-01-25)
57 GNU Emacs 17.46 (1986-02-04)
59 GNU Emacs 17.48 (1986-02-10)
61 GNU Emacs 17.49 (1986-02-12)
63 GNU Emacs 17.55 (1986-03-18)
65 GNU Emacs 17.57 (1986-03-27)
67 GNU Emacs 17.58 (1986-04-04)
69 GNU Emacs 17.61 (1986-04-22)
71 GNU Emacs 17.63 (1986-05-07)
73 GNU Emacs 17.64 (1986-05-12)
75 GNU Emacs 18.41 (1987-03-22)
77 GNU Emacs 18.45 (1987-06-02)
79 GNU Emacs 18.46 (1987-06-08)
81 GNU Emacs 18.47 (1987-06-10)
83 GNU Emacs 18.48 (1987-08-30)
85 GNU Emacs 18.49 (1987-09-18)
87 GNU Emacs 18.50 (1988-02-13)
89 GNU Emacs 18.51 (1988-05-07)
91 GNU Emacs 18.52 (1988-09-01)
93 GNU Emacs 18.53 (1989-02-24)
95 GNU Emacs 18.54 (1989-04-26)
97 GNU Emacs 18.55 (1989-08-23)
99 GNU Emacs 18.56 (1991-01-16)
101 GNU Emacs 18.57 (1991-01-25)
103 GNU Emacs 18.58 (1991-02-18)
105 GNU Emacs 18.59 (1992-10-30)
107 GNU Emacs 19.7 (1993-05-22)
109 GNU Emacs 19.8 (1993-05-24)
111 GNU Emacs 19.9 (1993-05-27)
113 GNU Emacs 19.10 (1993-05-30)
115 GNU Emacs 19.11 (1993-06-01)
117 GNU Emacs 19.12 (1993-06-02)
119 GNU Emacs 19.13 (1993-06-08)
121 GNU Emacs 19.14 (1993-06-17)
123 GNU Emacs 19.15 (1993-06-19)
125 GNU Emacs 19.16 (1993-07-06)
127 GNU Emacs 19.17 (1993-07-19)
129 GNU Emacs 19.18 (1993-08-08)
131 GNU Emacs 19.19 (1993-08-14)
133 GNU Emacs 19.20 (1993-11-11)
135 GNU Emacs 19.21 (1993-11-16)
137 GNU Emacs 19.22 (1993-11-27)
139 GNU Emacs 19.23 (1994-05-16)
141 GNU Emacs 19.24 (1994-05-23)
143 GNU Emacs 19.25 (1994-05-30)
145 GNU Emacs 19.26 (1994-09-07)
147 GNU Emacs 19.28 (1994-10-06)
149 GNU Emacs 19.29 (1995-06-19)
151 GNU Emacs 19.30 (1995-11-24)
153 GNU Emacs 19.31 (1996-05-25)
155 GNU Emacs 19.32 (1996-07-31)
157 GNU Emacs 19.33 (1996-08-11)
159 GNU Emacs 19.34 (1996-08-21) emacs-19.34
161 GNU Emacs 20.1 (1997-09-15) emacs-20.1
163 GNU Emacs 20.2 (1997-09-19) emacs-20.2
165 GNU Emacs 20.3 (1998-08-19) emacs-20.3
167 GNU Emacs 20.4 (1999-07-12) emacs-20.4
169 GNU Emacs 20.5 (1999-12-04)
171 GNU Emacs 20.6 (2000-02-15)
173 GNU Emacs 20.7 (2000-06-13)
175 GNU Emacs 21.1 (2001-10-20) emacs-21.1
177 GNU Emacs 21.2 (2002-03-16) emacs-21.2
179 GNU Emacs 21.3 (2003-03-19) emacs-21.3
181 GNU Emacs 21.4 (2005-02-08)
183 GNU Emacs 21.4a (2005-02-17)
184 This is Emacs 21.4 with an updated notice in etc/PROBLEMS.
186 GNU Emacs 22.1 (2007-06-02) emacs-22.1
188 GNU Emacs 22.2 (2008-03-26) emacs-22.2
190 GNU Emacs 22.3 (2008-09-05) emacs-22.3
192 GNU Emacs 23.1 (2009-07-29) emacs-23.1
194 GNU Emacs 23.2 (2010-05-08) emacs-23.2
196 GNU Emacs 23.3 (2011-03-10) emacs-23.3
198 GNU Emacs 23.4 (2012-01-29) emacs-23.4
200 GNU Emacs 24.1 (2012-06-10) emacs-24.1
202 GNU Emacs 24.2 (2012-08-27) emacs-24.2
204 GNU Emacs 24.3 (2013-03-10) emacs-24.3
206 GNU Emacs 24.4 (2014-10-20) emacs-24.4
208 GNU Emacs 24.5 (2015-04-10) emacs-24.5
210 GNU Emacs 25.1 (2016-09-16) emacs-25.1
212 GNU Emacs 25.2 (2017-04-20) emacs-25.2
214 GNU Emacs 25.3 (2017-09-11) emacs-25.3
217 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
218 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
220 GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
221 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
222 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
223 (at your option) any later version.
225 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
226 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
227 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
228 GNU General Public License for more details.
230 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
231 along with GNU Emacs. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.