In the jQuery download section, there’s three major CDN hosts for public use. code.jquery.com being one of them. Did they show up late to the CDN game, which is why Google and Microsoft are listed first? Which of these is better to link to?
I imagine jQuery should be the one you link to since that’s where the code originates. Then again, Google has proven to be rather robust.
I always link to Google CDN.
The downfall of official way is too many http requests to finally get the script.
There is more about it:
http://encosia.com/3-reasons-why-you-should-let-google-host-jquery-for-you/
And as for linking to the newest version – it’s not always the best idea (compability issues).