PHP 5.1 Release Candidate 1 is now available! If all goes well, this RC will be followed by a release within a couple of weeks. Some of the key improvements of PHP 5.1 include: PDO (PHP Data Objects) - A new native database abstraction layer providing performance, ease-of-use, and flexibility. Significantly improved language performance mainly due to the new Zend Engine II execution architecture. The PCRE extension has been updated to PCRE 6.2. Many more improvements including lots of new functionality & many bug fixes, especially in regards to SOAP, streams and SPL. See the bundled NEWS file for a more complete list of changes. Everyone is encouraged to download and test this beta, although it is not yet recommended for mission-critical production use.

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