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<h1>PHP 5.1 Beta 1 Available</h1>
<p>
 <span class="newsdate">[10-Jun-2005]</span>
<a href="/downloads.php#v5.1">PHP 5.1 Beta 1</a> is now available! A lot of work has been put into this upcoming release and we believe it is ready for public testing.
</p>
<p>Some of the key improvements of PHP 5.1 include:</p>
<ul>
 <li>PDO (PHP Data Objects) - A new native database abstraction layer providing performance, ease-of-use, and flexibility.</li>
 <li>Significantly improved performance including a new Zend Engine II execution architecture.</li>
 <li>The PCRE extension has been updated to PCRE 5.0.</li>
 <li>Many more improvements including lots of new functionality & many bug fixes, especially in regards to SOAP, streams and SPL.</li>
 <li> See the bundled NEWS file for a more complete list of changes.</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p>
Everyone is encouraged to start playing with this beta, although it is not yet recommended for mission-critical production use. 
</p>

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