I took the min version and renamed it the same name as the 1.4.4 file in 1.91.6 and tested both the welcome app and the video system controller I am writing. No noticeable differences that I could see. I also use jQueryUI but am back at 1.8.6, current is 1.8.9 and did not see anything broken.
I use a small amount of ajax to allow for user positioning of symbols on a map of the facility and when I drop a symbol the event makes an ajax call to a web2py controller to update the position of the symbol on the map into the database so it is drawn in the correct position next time. >From my limited perspective the jQuery 1.5 release is perfect.