We do get a technically new version, but not completely new. Last year we had 8.6, now we get 8.6.1 which isn't completely compatible. You can still use old robot code with it though. It would have been nice to get LV 2009 because it has a couple extra nice features.
We've got a help site for what you're asking, check it out:
https://sites.google.com/a/team2472....emprogramming/