According to a posting on the php-internals from Andi Gutmans, PHP 5.0.0 might be (literally) just around the corner.

From this message: I did a test roll of PHP 5.0.0 (without version change). Please download and make sure there are no serious show stoppers. You can grab it at http://snaps.php.net/~andi/ [...] If all goes well, I'll do version changes and will roll the release within about 24 hours.
Good luck!
Andi

It looks like most of the kinks are getting worked out and the release is right there on the horizion. Barring any major issues, PHP 5.0.0 could be right within our grasp.

Keep an eye here for the latest updates on this release and notification as to when it is released.

Many thanks to HolyGoat for the information...