You bought a $200 refurbished laptop to learn programming. R2014b runs instantly. It loads in 8 seconds on an HDD vs. 60 seconds for R2024. The core language ( linspace , for loops, plot ) hasn't changed. You learn 95% of modern MATLAB syntax without the lag.

This was the final release before the major "Handle Graphics 2" (HG2) transition. If you have very old code that relies on specific graphical behaviors or undocumented "low-level" graphics hacks, R2014a is often the most stable choice to ensure your plots look and behave exactly as they did in the early 2000s.