The document summarizes the evolution of Java from its initial release in 1996 as JDK 1.0 to the latest release Java SE 7 in 2011. Some key points covered include the major additions in each release such as generics in J2SE 5.0, performance improvements in Java SE 6, and language changes and concurrency utilities in Java SE 7. The releases are also noted by their code names from Oak to Dolphin.