For people not on the mailing list, we just announced an alpha release of CiviCRM 1.5. Here is the announcement text:
An alpha release of v1.5 is now available for folks to download, review and test. Download the appropriate tarball from the "latest snapshot" page here: http://downloads.openngo.org/civicrm/latest_snapshot/
At this stage, we would primarily encourage folks with experience installing and using CiviCRM to try it out and help us move forward to a beta release by reporting bugs and issues here: http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence//x/BB8
A database upgrade script is included - so you can test the release with a fresh install and/or by upgrading A COPY OF an existing 1.4 installation. You can follow the install and upgrade instructions posted on the wiki for v1.4 - but be sure and check the new sample settings file for additional settings options (civicrm/civicrm.settings.php.sample).
Please note that the database schema MAY change between now and beta, and we will not be able to support automated database upgrades between revisions. We WILL make every effort to avoid/minimize this - and will provide a list of table changes should they be necessary.
For an overview of what's in the release - refer to the 1.5 roadmap page: http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRM/CiviCRM+v1.5
For details on new features and fixed bugs - check out the resolved 1.5 issues list in our bug tracker:
http://issues.civicrm.org/jira/secure/IssueNavigator.jspa?mode=hide&requ...
lobo