Splatsch: If I understand well, there is 3 main branches of Terraria ? 1.1 (that I never played), 1.2 (that I played a little) and now the 1.3.
I would be very interested too for being able to download the latest version of each branch.
It would be great if GOG could do something about this.
1.0.1 to 1.0.3 were mostly bug fixing with a bit of content added/changed and some QoL stuff.
1.0.4 added more content than the previous 3 patches combined. It also introduced the Surface Jungle biome.
1.0.5 introduced potions and a more interesting Desert biome. Also Voodoo Demons, allowing players to hurt the Guide who had been letting in zombies during night time previously (Hardmode wasn't until 1.1).
1.0.6 was a split between balance changes and the addition of furniture (like Dressers, Bathtubs and Bookcases)
1.0 was a noticably different beast from 1.0.5 and 1.0.6 not just due to the content added, but the UI had seen some improvements as well.
Do note that characters are not backwards compatible between game versions, and you'd need to manually manage the save location if you wanted to play an older version of the game. Same thing with worlds, once you load up either in a newer version of the game, they get updated to that version.
To me the only reason to get older versions of the game beyond archival would be the world generation.