Node.js is easy to compile from sources. Basically when https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/5592 gets merged, all that is needed is

git clone git@github.com:nodejs/node.git; cd node ; git checkout vee-eight-5.0; ./configure; make; make install

to start experimenting.

> Any idea how V8 releases relate to Node (especially now post-io.js)? When could we see these improvements on the server?

April and October are the planned release months for a new major node version AFAIK. The April releases then become LTS releases in October. October releases don't become LTS.

Presumably new major node versions will be cut from the latest stable (or perhaps stable - 1, depending on timing) V8 release.

Might be wrong about this, so I'm open to correction.