14 DAY TRIAL // The first update for the latest version of Opera is just around the corner. Early adopters can now download the first Release Candidate of Opera 10.51, but only if they are running Windows. An RC Build was not offered for testers running Opera 10.51 on either Linux or Mac OS X. In fact, Opera Software continues on the same development path it has embarked with the creation of version 10.50, with flavors of the browser no longer synchronized for the three major platforms it supports, Windows, OS X and UNIX. Opera 10.51 RC1 Build 3311 was offered over the past weekend and is still up for grabs.
“This is the first 10.51 Release Candidate for Windows. The changes since the previous build are mostly stability fixes, and there's some work on improving Carakan memory usage compared to Futhark. We have also fixed a minor issue related to performance,” a member of the Opera Desktop team revealed.
Judging by the rapid pace of development that Opera Software has established for the most recent iteration of its browser as well as for updates to v10.50, the 10.51 refresh could be made available for download in the immediate future, possibly even later this week. However, the Norwegian browser maker has so far not announced a specific availability deadline for Opera 10.51 for Windows.
The first preview of Opera 10.51 was delivered at the end of the past week, just ahead of the first RC development milestone. At this point in time, users can also download and install Opera 10.50, which was finalized and released to web at the start of this month. Unless they want to join the Opera testing community, customers should wait for the final release of Opera 10.51. The RC label is in fact an indication that Opera Software is not that far from wrapping up Opera 10.51.
Opera 10.51 RC (Release Candidate) is available for download here.
Opera 10.50 Build 3296 Final is available for download here.