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Yes there it is, it is exactly what unstable is. Packages in there are reasonably recent and generally match upstream in functionally. There are occasional compatibility problems between packages but that is something that you cannot avoid if you want to have "relatively recent versions".

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I tend to prefer using testing for getting recent packages on a desktop -- packages automatically migrate from unstable to testing if no bugs are reported within 10 days, which tends to mean a slightly more stable system, but still with reasonably recent versions.

So unstable is reasonably stable?

Except for experimental, which isn't even a coherent system, all of debian's branches are relatively stable. For personal desktop use I find unstable (Sid) to be just fine. I know it sounds bad but my rule of thumb for avoiding major problems is this: If synaptic wants to delete a bunch of important looking packages during an update - hold off a few days for things to settle down.

Yes. Been using it on my desktop for five years, had one single instance of breakage, which is better than my Ubuntu workstation.

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