As much as I would like to agree with your assessment, I have to disagree.

The problem seems to exist within the php_mysql.dll file. I have followed all of the instructions according to the manual(or lack thereof), including moving libMySQL.dll to the  system directory, editting the extension_dir property in the php.ini file, and enabling the use of php_mysql.dll

However, I have received each and every time that I have attempted to load Apache, a PHP Startup error stating, and I quote:

"PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library 'd:/PHP5/extensions/php_mysql.dll' - The specified module could not be found"

If you were to ask me, this means that php_mysql.dll references to a nonexistant code structure, likely a module that has changed it's name or been removed from the libMySQL.dll file. The problem occurs both with PHP's libMySQL distribution and MySQL's libMySQL distribution. Thus, the logical conclusion is that the error occurs(and thus exists) within php_mysql.dll and, therefore, would be a bug in PHP.

I have done as you suggested and searched for information regarding this issue elsewhere and have found that I'm not the only one having the problem. And to take note:
http://news.php.net/article.php?group=php.internals&article=6927
A person replying to an issue the same as mine noted that they were able to get around the error by using the libMySQL.dll file from an earlier snapshot, which caused it to work fine, and goes on to guess that there might be an error in the distribution.

Due the the regularity of the snapshots, I was unable to find the snapshot that this person accessed, though I did attempt it.

I apologize if I come off as rude in any way.

Please do not submit the same bug more than once. An existing
bug report already describes this very problem. Even if you feel
that your issue is somewhat different, the resolution is likely
to be the same. 

Thank you for your interest in PHP.

This is already fixed in CVS. (beta3 is just too old)

Sorry, it seem's not to be fixed in 5.0.0RC1-Win32, I downloaded 2004-04-24.
If I configure PHP5 on WinXP in ISAPI-mode, I allways get the described error on system-startup (module not found), regardless what I write to the extension-path.
But if I change the configuration of IIS to the cgi-mode (extension path = 'C:\php\ext'), it works well and I can connect to mysql without problems.

This Problem seems to still exist under PHP 5.0.1
I tried installing the ISAPI-module under Apache 2 (OS: WinXP) and wanted to load any extension.
Regardless to where I copied the dll-files and what I set 'extension_dir' to, I always get the same error message (Only the given directory changes):
"PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library
'C:/PHP5/php_mysql.dll' - The specified module could not be
found"
If you need my php.ini & apache.conf files, just send me a mail, I will send them to you