How to run uTorrent in Mac OS X
Written by Smaran on September 15, 2006As a x-Windows guy and an ardent BitTorrenter I can confidently say that uTorrent is one of the best BitTorrent clients available for Windows 95 through Vista. It’s lean, takes up very little memory and doesn’t need to be installed, you can even run it off a USB pen drive. It also offers all the important features like Selective Downloading, Universal Plug ‘n’ Play Support, Super Seeding Mode and RSS Feeds Subscription. Soon we will also be able to use uTorrent via a web-interface.
If you don’t like torrents try MP3 Fiesta. They hold nearly 67,000 albums from nearly 17,000 artists. Prices are around the $0.10 mark for single tracks with full albums coming in at roughly $1.00. Tracks are available from 192kbps and they take major credit cards and PayPal
uTorrent is currently only available for Windows. But that isn’t going to stop us from running it in OS X.
We currently have two ways of doing this. The first and more obvious way to do this would be to install Parallels and just run it as we would any other Windows program. The second is with an exciting new program (not so new for Linux users) called CrossOver. CrossOver is still in beta, but is already a very usable and stable alternative to installing a copy of the entire Windows operating system on your Mac, which is essentially what you’re doing when you run Parallels.
So, here’s what you need to do:
Sadly, CrossOver only works on Intel-Macs, so don’t try this on a PPC one (I won’t be responsible if it blows up in your face :-P).
First off, go download CrossOver Beta, it’s available as a free download on the developer’s site. Once you have it installed, you will be able to run quite a few Microsoft programs, as well as other small Windows programs within OS X. uTorrent is one of those other small programs.- Next, you need a copy of uTorrent. After you’ve downloaded the Windows executable (utorrent.exe), double-click it and CrossOver should start bouncing in the dock with the little .exe symbol displayed on it. After a few seconds uTorrent will load up.
- That’s it, you’re done! You’re running uTorrent in Mac OS X!
Waitasecond, slow down. There are still some things you need to know…
The file structure that you see while trying to download a torrent is a tad confusing. You see, CrossOver tricks programs into believing that there’s a C: drive on your Mac, when there actually is none.
Make sure you do not save your files in the C: drive. You can get to your user folder by choosing:
Desktop > / > Users > Yourusername
Another annoying thing is the fact that you can’t just untick files you don’t want when trying to download selectively. You have to right-click on the file and choose “select” or “deselect.”
But seriously, do I really want to run a BitTorrent client that has to be emulated through CrossOver? No. For me this was just a fun side-project. Just like attempting to run IE6 in OS X. A major drawback is that CrossOver hogs too much RAM to be able to constantly run in the background. The day there’s something like Rosetta for Windows applications, it’ll open up a whole new market to developers. Even better would be a Mac-version of uTorrent, which is incidentally in the developer’s plan of action.
Have you tried running uTorrent in OS X? Do you think it’s worth the trouble? We want to know.
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48 Responses
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Why should I emulate a windows-only torrent-client when I get a native one (azureus) for free, which also works perfect.
With CrossOver in background it uses exactly as much memory as azureus - but azureus is still more powerful.
thank u very much for this
Better than ove
I have a iMac, and I’ve downloaded Azureus.. But I still can’t download things from Torrent! Any help? xx
@Demi (20): you need to port forward. Learn to use the search fuction on your Safari. Depending on your ISP, you may be heavily bandwidth throttled. If so you need a VPN. Search for this too.
@ Hippo (18): Just be thankful Azureus still works for you. It’s stopped working for a lot of people since ISPs around the world are now trying their best to stop people from using BT.
@ Mr. 2 cents (12): Do tell how you got your Transmission to even connect to some trackers. Transmission has been steadily going downhill since they started NetEnforcer. Look that up too.
hi, i just want to say is there a way to download the newwst version of msn live in mac? even with the turrent and all applications i cant usu it :s
help please!
umm! i need help. when i open crossover it gives a list of many prgrams (bottles, packages) do i need to install all of them to run torrent or do i choose a specific one. i am kinds new to mac but i really want torrent on it. thnx
Well, that settles that. I’m getting a Mac!
Ignor all the packages in crossover, just install and close (move file to applications). D/L utorrent and run, crossover will automatically pick it up.Its important to specify the drive to save files to, I have mine on an external drive, to configure in utorrent, click on orange gear wheel>downloads> browse to location, open.Done.
I find it usefull to have a download (incomplete) folder and to move completed d/ls to a new location.
Hope this helps.
i have a mac with os x and a dell with xp so no
need to crossover.i kept my old dell just for utorrent windows is too sucseptible of problems.+it’corrupted ; )
I used uTorrent flawlessly through CrossOver for a while. I just got a new Mac and have been making do with Transmission. Transmission has greatly improved recently, and does what i need.
People, telling someone how to run virtualization (or emulation) software in order to run another application is hardly running it *on* the native platform. Please quit with the misleading article titles. I mean, I could start posting articles called “play Playstation 3 from your new AstroVan” and speak about all the hoops (and extra money) I’d need to spend to do so. . .but that’s completely misleading.
Thank you.
Does anybody know a solution for my problem:
I have a powerbook G4, Crossover can’t be runned at my mac…
Does anybody has a solution?
thx
Ok, works well - noticeably faster than Azureus - but not without a few glitches. I’ll rather wait for the real OS X version of uTorrent. Sorry, I won’t buy CrossOver at 60$, maybe at 20$ though.
dude, i appreciate torrentfreak. i do. still, read the post date - it’s 2006. you have Transmission now for OSX, Azureus works excellent, why would do play tennis with your left hand? Really.
Aright. Straight up. Is my new macbook gonna get F’ed in the A if i do this whole crossover/utorrent business?…Is it completely safe?
azureus. the grown up choice.
utorrent works great on my brand new imac,
way better than stuf like frostwire or bittorrent!
is there anyone who can help me with finding perfect mac torrents?
transmission for mac is good, considering that is has the selective download feature but its rather slow comparing to utorrent. ps i hope the mac version is as fast as the windows version
Could you please show me how to install Parallel on a macbook pro? I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the terms that the installer is using. Thanks.
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