What advantages do you think older GameMaker: Studio has over the new GMS2? I am asking more specifically since I am a complete beginner in GML and I noticed that there's a pretty big difference in how GML is implemented in newer versions (e.g. the blueprint system and lots of deprecated 3D features, amongst which Direct3D).
Tried looking for a simple and exhaustive explanation on how the GMS versions differ side by side.
I would say that the biggest difference between those two is not the technical part per se (GML), but the look & feel of them.
When you have essentially the same UI for 15+ years, I believe that it is obvious that some of your users are going to feel like old geezers. Although it was not alienating for my taste, I could clearly see that they tried too hard at emulating other engines.
Of course, on the other hand you have tons of new cool features (not sure about the Opera GX integration though).
As for what I would personally recommend, in case you prefer plain ol' desktop simplicity rather than the newest thing on the console market, yes, I would highly recommend older GMS. You can do pretty much the same thing on desktop OSes on both older and newer stuff from YoYo.