Opera 10.0 is slowly advancing toward the first Release Candidate development milestone, but it's not quite there yet. However, a new beta snapshot of the browser is currently available for download. Opera Software has taken version 10.0 of its browser all the way to Build 1631. Still, there is no indication at this point in time as to when the first RC milestone is planned for availability or a timetable of releases after that. But Opera 10.0 is, indeed, getting closer and closer to the first Release Candidate.

“This new snapshot contains stability fixes based on crashers reported by users. Other highlights are Unite fixes and skin fixes such as updated icons. On Mac, admin password is no longer needed when reporting crashes. On 64-bit Linux, Opera will find plugins more easily,” a member of the Opera Desktop QA team revealed. “There is also a new design for error pages, fraud warning page and internal pages so upgrade and check out the new opera:about and error page design.”

It was on June 24, 2009, that the Norway-based browser maker indicated that it was approaching the final Opera 10.0 release. Since then, another three Beta snapshots were produced, not counting Build 1631. The latest release still features a number of known issues. Neither opera:drives nor opera:historysearch have been updated to a new design. A problem with the new error pages prevents the bottom area to load every time. The browser's skin continues to be deemed a work in progress.

At the same time, there are also a number of improvements: “new design for info panel, error pages, internal pages (e.g., opera:about), and fraud warning page; skin fixes, including updated icons; stability fixes; Unite fixes; Admin password is no longer needed when reporting crashes on Mac; improved plugin detection on 64-bit Linux.”

The latest snapshot of Opera 10.0 is available for download here.