Hi,
From what I understand, There are some issues withint 5.x that should be resolved before many assets update their package, it's unfortunate, but it's better than for example the typical issues with unity renaming/duplicating assets and the user ends up with a real mess within his assets.
It does hold up on many things we've been working on, so yes, I hope too 1.8 will come out soon, yet I don't want 1.8 to be rushed and creates more frustration than good
Bye,
Jean