There are two upcoming versions of Opera being developed in parallel at this point in time, but just one is the next iteration of the browser. Early adopters can now download pre-release snapshots of both Opera 10.61 and Opera 10.70, and Opera Software confirmed that the focus is spread between the two versions. However, the Norway-based browser maker wanted to make it as clear as possible that Opera 10.70 is the next version of the browser, while Opera 10.61 is designed as nothing more than a refresh, a vessel to deliver security patches and bug fixes.
One aspect that is bound to cause some confusion to testers is related to the build numbers for development snapshots of the two releases. A member of the Opera Desktop team explained that early adopters taking either Opera 10.61 our Opera 10.70 out for a spin should by no means read too much into build numbers. Apparently, the numbers are assigned by the build system, and in this context Opera 10.61 can end up appearing like it is superseding Opera 10.70. This is not the case.
Opera 10.70 continues to be the main development branch, while Opera 10.61 will be delivered as an update. In this regard, when it will wrap up version 10.70 Opera software is bound to offer it as an upgrade to Opera 10.6x. Another interesting aspect related to Opera 10.70 involves the actual version number. Opera Software is indicating that it has yet to decide on the versioning for the upcoming release of Opera, and that Opera 10.70 could be scrapped for another moniker, per the Opera 10.x0 model.
At this point in time, early adopters can download and test both Opera 10.70 Build 3468 and Opera 10.61 Build 3476. As the browser vendor stated, don’t give much thought to the build numbers, as they are irrelevant for the future of Opera.
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