Opera 10.51 RC2 for Windows Available

Opera makes headway with the development of the first minor update for Opera 10.50. In this regard, the Norway-based browser maker has announced the availability of the second Release Candidate of Opera 10.51. As it was the case with the previous development snapshots of Opera 10.51, the latest RC build is available exclusively to testers running the Windows operating system. In fact, Opera Software has prioritized development for Windows with the development and delivery of Opera 10.50, and seems to continue sticking to this strategy as it moves forward.

The latest RC Build comes just four days after Opera 10.51 hit the Release Candidate milestone. No availability deadline was made public up to this point in time as far as the delivery of Opera 10.51 is concerned, however, judging by the rapid pace of the development process, and the numerous builds made available, Opera Software is indeed getting closer to wrapping up the first refresh to Opera 10.51.

“Here is a second 10.51 Release Candidate for Windows. A few small stability fixes have been added, and we fixed a problem with Chinese text being rotated for some users,” Ruari Ødegaard, from the Opera Desktop team, revealed. “As always, let us know if you discover any regressions or other major issues. We'll resume with Mac and UNIX snapshots after the Windows 10.51 release.”

Yesterday, Microsoft unveiled a Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 9, revealing a consistent evolution of IE, and a focus on bringing the browser on par with its rivals, as well as outperforming them in some aspects, such as hardware-acceleration. When it was released, at the start of March 2010, Opera 10.50 was applauded as the fastest browser worldwide in terms of JavaScript performance. At MIX10, Microsoft made it clear that IE9 was already delivering an almost identical JS performance level, but that the focus on speed would continue as Internet Explorer 9 would move forward in its development process.

Opera 10.51 RC2 (Release Candidate 2) is available for download here.

Opera 10.50 Build 3296 Final is available for download here.

Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Platform Preview is available for download here.