Download Opera 10.0 Release Candidate (RC)

Opera Software has reached an important milestone with the development process of the next iteration of its proprietary browser. As of August 25th, 2009, users can now download and run the first Release Candidate of Opera 10.0. As you can see from the images included with this article, Opera Software has revamped the Opera icon, pointing out that the browser is close to finalization. In fact, RC Build 1733 of Opera 10.0 is considered stable enough for adopters to start test driving the release in their environments.

“Opera 10.0 has reached the release candidate stage,” noted a member of the Opera Desktop Team. “What this means is that Opera 10.0 should be considered to be in a stable state code-wise, and that only selected fixes will be added if necessary. Apart from those (if any), the RC should be considered ready for release testing for Opera 10.0.”

As was the case with previous development snapshots, Opera 10.0 Release candidate (RC) Build 1733 is up for grabs for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux users. As you can see from the images included below, in Windows 7 RTM you can use the Ctrl plus Scroll on the desktop in order to grow or decrease the size of the Opera icon. If you insist long enough, you’ll be able to get the icon at the same size I did. This should of course also work on Windows Vista.

“Perhaps the most obvious change in this RC is the new application icon, designed by Oleg Melnychuk. The red O will continue to represent Opera, but it has received a major facelift. It is also available in bigger sizes than before for Windows and Mac, so that you can view it in all its glory on your desktop. The document icon has also been updated,” the Opera Desktop team representative added.

Windows and Mac users who will start testing Opera 10.0 RC need to know that the Norwegian browser maker has introduced a number of changes. “This RC will no longer use the beta preferences on Mac, but will upgrade your old 9.64 preferences. Windows has been switched over to the non-beta installation path as well,” the Opera Desktop Team member explained.