How demanding is it to run KiCad 5?

[stmdude]

Be aware that there may be larger bugs hiding in these

I can guarantee that there are plenty of bugs when running HEAD on their master. I have yet to have something cause me to loose work though, but it's only a matter of time I guess.

Remember. If you encounter bugs in the nightlies, report them on the bugtracker.

[a59d1]

a59d1, I assume you mean the nightlies released under the 6.0.0RC name, Be aware that there may be larger bugs hiding in these, as they are development builds, the 6.0.0 is just a name they decided on, realistically its 5.0.1 or 5.1.0 alpha.

I'm aware, but reporting a minor bug here and there (with fixes within 24 hours, usually) make it worth it. I'm happy to contribute to the project.

[sethhillbrand]

Be aware that there may be larger bugs hiding in these, as they are development builds, the 6.0.0 is just a name they decided on, realistically its 5.0.1 or 5.1.0 alpha.

Truer words were never spoken.  There are definitely more bugs in the development HEAD.  This will be released as v5.1 when it is ready.  If you use it, it would be lovely if you could report any bugs you find to https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad

If you are looking for a more stable experience but still want early access to bug fixes, you can follow the 5.0.1 development nightly builds:
http://downloads.kicad-pcb.org/osx/testing/5.0/
http://downloads.kicad-pcb.org/windows/testing/5.0/
https://launchpad.net/~js-reynaud/+archive/ubuntu/kicad-5-nightly