Hi all,
It will be a few days before the official release , after the webpage stuff is done.
But here is the 2.45 version already on the public server!
Hot and fresh, just waiting to be downloaded 
http://download.blender.org/release/Blender2.45/
if you are a python programmer you will want this too:
http://www.python.org/
get version python version 2.5
works on MAC, windows, Linux, and almost every other OS known to god and man, so be sure to share it with all your friends