Five Best BitTorrent Applications
We're big fans of BitTorrent. It's the fastest way to download files quickly without lining up for an HTTP download or opening an FTP client, and it's a great way to host large files without having to provide all of the bandwidth on your own. Here's a look at five of the most popular BitTorrent applications.
Most of you are already familiar with BitTorrent, but if you're not sure what all the fuss is about, check out our beginners guide to BitTorrent. Once you're through that, head on to our intermediate guide, which can speed up your downloads and improve security. Those of you who already have a favorite client responded en masse when we asked you which you preferred, and now we're back to feature the ones you suggested.
Deluge (Windows/Mac/Linux)
Deluge is one of the most lightweight BitTorrent clients available. Part of the reason it's so light on system resources is because of its robust plug-in catalog, where most of the real power comes from. The bulk of its features come from available plugins, and those plugins are just as cross platform as the core application is. Deluge supports private torrents, encrypted transfers, password protection, and bandwidth scheduling, so you can let the app eat your available bandwidth when you're asleep or at work, but throttle it back when you're home. Deluge is completely free.
Transmission (Mac/Linux)
For a long time, Transmission was the only feature-rich BitTorrent client available for the Mac, and even today, it's the go-to client for many. Transmission is free, open-source, and runs just as well in Linux as it does in Mac OS X, and the developers provide distro-specific packages of the application for your downloading needs. The app is also designed to run quietly in the background without eating too much bandwidth or memory, but doesn't skimp on the features. Transmission sports robust system notifications, download scheduling, magnet links, port forwarding, remote management, encryption, and more.
µTorrent (Windows/Mac/Linux)
µTorrent was one of the first solid, lightweight BitTorrent clients to hit the Web, and since then it's soared to massive popularity. It doesn't hurt that µTorrent is a tiny installation, easy to use and understand, but has enough advanced features to keep the pro users hooked on the app. For example, µTorrent supports remote control, scheduling, port forwarding, and smart bandwidth throttling – it'll give up bandwidth as you start to use bandwidth-intensive applications without you forcing it to. Plus, it's developed and owned by the same people who invented the BitTorrent protocol. There was a time when µTorrent was Windows only, but that's clearly no longer the case. Best of all, it's free.
rTorrent/ruTorrent (Linux)
Who needs GUIs? rTorrent and ruTorrent are free, designed for Linux and Unix-based systems, and will handle your downloads entirely by command line. When we say "entirely," we mean it –it's not like rTorrent or ruTorrent have some web interface you just have to toggle, it's not there. If you want it, you'll have to download a plug-in. Still, if you're managing your torrents remotely on a Linux box on your network, rTorrent lets you log in and manage them easily without firing up an app to do it. Plus, both apps support SSH remote control, so you don't even have to be home to manage your downloads.
Vuze (Windows/Mac/Linux)
Where all of the other applications focus on being as lightweight as possible, Vuze takes a different approach. The app goes above and beyond to include as many features as it can. Vuze will download and manage torrents, and it also supports remote management, mobile devices, and bandwidth throttling. Vuze is also a video player, and can play HD video, or push it to your mobile device. The app automatically detects iTunes and iOS devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. It also supports streaming audio and video to Android phones, BlackBerry devices, and game consoles like the XBox 360 and PS3. It's not the lightest of the group, but it tries to manage all of your downloads and help you enjoy them at the same time. Vuze comes in two flavors – a scaled back free version, and a "plus" version with all features unlocked, for $24.99 per year.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Torrent Download Guide: a Beginner's Intro to Torrent Downloading 2011
Torrent Download Guide: a Beginner's Intro to Torrent Downloading
2011
By Anthony Phuphu
June, 2011
Welcome to the exciting world of bittorrent downloading! While file sharing is controversial and often accused of being 'music piracy', millions of users continue to share their files, and thousands of new torrent users are added every day.
To get you started, here are 5 quick tutorials for beginning torrent users. We recommend that you read the following articles in order. We also recommend that you install reliable antivirus software before you actually start downloading.
Happy reading, and enjoy your new torrent download experience!
1. Torrents 101: Understand How Bittorrent File Sharing Works
If you are new to torrent downloading, then you will definitely want to read about how the system works. Torrents, aka 'bittorrents', are pointer files that help you locate dozens of other users' computers. You then connect to those private computers with your special torrent software, and copy their music and movie files to your own computer.
Read more about how torrent downloading works...
Question: What exactly is "bittorrent" sharing?
Answer: Bittorrent networking is the most popular form of P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing. Since 2006, bittorrent sharing has been the primary means for users to trade software, music, movies, and digital books online. Torrents are very unpopular with the MPAA, the RIAA, and other copyright authorities, but are much beloved by millions of college and university students around the planet.
Bittorrents (also known as "torrents") work by downloading small bits of files from many different web sources at the same time. Torrent downloading is extremely easy to use, and outside of a few torrent search providers, torrents themselves are free of user fees.
Torrent networking debuted in 2001. A Python-language programmer, Bram Cohen, created the technology with the intent to share it with everyone. And indeed, its popularity has taken off since 2005. The torrent community has now grown to millions of users worldwide in 2009. Because torrents strive to screen out dummy and corrupt files, are mostly free of adware/spyware, and achieve amazing download speeds, torrent popularity is still growing fast. By straight gigabytes of bandwidth used, bittorrent networking is the most popular activity on the Internet today.
How are torrents special? How is the torrent community different from Kazaa and other networks?
Answer: Like the other file-sharing networks (Kazaa, Limewire (now defunct), Gnutella, eDonkey, and Shareaza) Bittorrent's primary purpose is to distribute large media files to private users. Unlike most P2P networks, however, torrents stand out for 5 major reasons:
Torrent networking is NOT a publish-subscribe model like Kazaa; instead, torrents are true Peer-to-Peer networking where the users themselves do the actual file serving.
Torrents enforce 99% quality control by filtering out corrupted and dummy files, ensuring that downloads contain only what they claim to contain. There is still some abuse of the system, but if you use a community torrent searcher like www.isohunt.com, users will warn you when a torrent is a fake or dummy file.
Torrents actively encourage users to share ("seed") their complete files, while simultaneously penalizing users who "leech".
Torrents can achieve download speeds over 1.5 megabits per second.
Torrent code is open-source, advertising-free, and adware/spyware-free. This means that no single person profits from torrent success.
To be continued Part II
2011
By Anthony Phuphu
June, 2011
Welcome to the exciting world of bittorrent downloading! While file sharing is controversial and often accused of being 'music piracy', millions of users continue to share their files, and thousands of new torrent users are added every day.
To get you started, here are 5 quick tutorials for beginning torrent users. We recommend that you read the following articles in order. We also recommend that you install reliable antivirus software before you actually start downloading.
Happy reading, and enjoy your new torrent download experience!
1. Torrents 101: Understand How Bittorrent File Sharing Works
If you are new to torrent downloading, then you will definitely want to read about how the system works. Torrents, aka 'bittorrents', are pointer files that help you locate dozens of other users' computers. You then connect to those private computers with your special torrent software, and copy their music and movie files to your own computer.
Read more about how torrent downloading works...
Question: What exactly is "bittorrent" sharing?
Answer: Bittorrent networking is the most popular form of P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing. Since 2006, bittorrent sharing has been the primary means for users to trade software, music, movies, and digital books online. Torrents are very unpopular with the MPAA, the RIAA, and other copyright authorities, but are much beloved by millions of college and university students around the planet.
Bittorrents (also known as "torrents") work by downloading small bits of files from many different web sources at the same time. Torrent downloading is extremely easy to use, and outside of a few torrent search providers, torrents themselves are free of user fees.
Torrent networking debuted in 2001. A Python-language programmer, Bram Cohen, created the technology with the intent to share it with everyone. And indeed, its popularity has taken off since 2005. The torrent community has now grown to millions of users worldwide in 2009. Because torrents strive to screen out dummy and corrupt files, are mostly free of adware/spyware, and achieve amazing download speeds, torrent popularity is still growing fast. By straight gigabytes of bandwidth used, bittorrent networking is the most popular activity on the Internet today.
How are torrents special? How is the torrent community different from Kazaa and other networks?
Answer: Like the other file-sharing networks (Kazaa, Limewire (now defunct), Gnutella, eDonkey, and Shareaza) Bittorrent's primary purpose is to distribute large media files to private users. Unlike most P2P networks, however, torrents stand out for 5 major reasons:
Torrent networking is NOT a publish-subscribe model like Kazaa; instead, torrents are true Peer-to-Peer networking where the users themselves do the actual file serving.
Torrents enforce 99% quality control by filtering out corrupted and dummy files, ensuring that downloads contain only what they claim to contain. There is still some abuse of the system, but if you use a community torrent searcher like www.isohunt.com, users will warn you when a torrent is a fake or dummy file.
Torrents actively encourage users to share ("seed") their complete files, while simultaneously penalizing users who "leech".
Torrents can achieve download speeds over 1.5 megabits per second.
Torrent code is open-source, advertising-free, and adware/spyware-free. This means that no single person profits from torrent success.
To be continued Part II
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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