I'm running .18 on my 8310 and so far its a lot more stable than ANY 4.2 os I had. Not a single restart or quirk or problem. With every 4.2 update my phone would suddenly res tart here and there during the first few days after the update. As long as you have all ur apps installed under 4.2 and have them backed up during the 4.5 install, ur set.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
First, this is a thread for the Curve 83XX and not the Pearl.
Second, 4.5 is still in Beta version. Release of 4.5 should not be too much longer, so keep checking on this site. People will let you know when it is available.
Patience!!