Plans about GIANT-LOCK, SMP performance ...

[dkouroun at cc.uoi.gr]

Dear users,
Does anybody know what are the plans,
for locking mechanism like GIANT-LOCK in 
future 5.3 Releases? I have heard from many
people that this GIANT-Locking mechanism 
is not the best thing to have! Some said 
that it may be replaced. Some also said that
it won't. 

1:) What are the plans about it?

2:) How does this affect performance?

3:) Which is version is best for an Opteron QUAD?
    4.10 Release or > 5.X Release ???

Thanks in advance!
D.K.