Not reproduced with Inkscape 0.48 and 0.48+devel r9785 on OS X 10.5.8, comparing the selection of nodes to Inkscape 0.47.
The same nodes are selected in all Inkscape versions with the two available modes for selecting 'adjacent' nodes:
a) hover a node and use the scrollwheel: selects nodes based on the spatial distance from the cursor
b) hover a node and use 'Ctrl+scrollwheel': selects nodes based on the linear distance measured along the path, only nodes in the same sub-path can be selected.
Tested with default preferences and those I normally use.
Please test again and make sure you either press 'Ctrl' in both Inkscape version, or that you select adjacent nodes by scrolling the mouse wheel without using a modifier (again in both versions).
Not reproduced with Inkscape 0.48 and 0.48+devel r9785 on OS X 10.5.8, comparing the selection of nodes to Inkscape 0.47.
The same nodes are selected in all Inkscape versions with the two available modes for selecting 'adjacent' nodes:
a) hover a node and use the scrollwheel: selects nodes based on the spatial distance from the cursor
b) hover a node and use 'Ctrl+scrollwheel': selects nodes based on the linear distance measured along the path, only nodes in the same sub-path can be selected.
Tested with default preferences and those I normally use.
References: tavmjong. free.fr/ INKSCAPE/ MANUAL/ html/Paths- Editing. html#Paths- Node-Selecting>
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Please test again and make sure you either press 'Ctrl' in both Inkscape version, or that you select adjacent nodes by scrolling the mouse wheel without using a modifier (again in both versions).