PHP5 question (migrating from C++)

Hi, I am working as a PHP developer with a team of 5 experienced (7+ years) C++ engineers. The middle-tier has been architected using C++ components with a custom C++ CGI library. Now, that PHP5 has been released, the management is considering converting from C++ to PHP5, to cut development costs. There are two issues being faced, 1. performance of PHP5 vis-a-vis C++ transaction ready middle-tier with 3-tier architecture and XML+XSLT transformations. The current C++ code is well written and we haven't faced any major issues. 2. moving to PHP5, results in the entire project being outsourced. The C++ guys get laid off and I am supposed to co-ordinate, teach and manage the project. We don't have any technical data on PHP5 performance in a 3-tier architecture with heavy transactions and XML+XSLT transformations. The key questions here are, 1. Is PHP5 production ready ? 2. Does PHP5 deliver better performance than C++ in CGI env ? 3. Are the new 'oo' language constructs stable enough to go in with a major 200,000 line project re-write for a application portal ? 4. the XML+XSLT transforms will be achieved through 'exec 'xsltproc approach. The average XML file size is 125KB. Is there a better way to handle this situation ? 5. How has been the experience with some of the experienced folks on this list who have used it for transaction heavy environments ? Outsourcing is another headache that I have to handle, and I am quite jittery with that as well. Any help with the above questions greatly appreciated. kind regards Tom.