LimeWire Most Installed P2P Application, BitTorrent Clients Runner up
Written by Ernesto on March 28, 2007Limewire is installed on nearly 20% of all Windows PCs and little over 15% of the PCs has a BitTorrent client on it. This is concluded in the digital media desktop report from Digital Music News.
Unfortunately the report is not open for the public to read, people who are interested in the results need to pay $195 for a summary of (in my opinion) heavily confounded, and pretty much worthless statistics. Let me first start with a short summary of the report, after that I will explain some of the issues that trouble me.
The report is based on data supplied by BigChampagne and PC Pitstop. BigChampagne is a company that tracks online media, it also provides provides Billboard online music charts. PC Pitstop gathers data by “inspecting” the computers of users that try their free online virus / spyware scanners. The data used in this report are collected from Windows registry and table entries of 1.5 million PC’s through these online diagnostic tests performed by PC Pitstop.
The results. The percentages in the table indicate the install base of the P2P applications:
| Rank | Application | Installed on % Desktops |
| 1. | Limewire | 18.3% |
| 2. | eDonkey | 3.3% |
| 3. | Azureus | 3.2% |
| 4. | uTorrent | 2.7% |
| 5. | BitTorrent | 2.6% |
| 6. | BearShare | 2.5% |
| 7. | mIRC | 2.3% |
| 8. | eMule | 2.0% |
| 9. | BitComet | 2.0% |
| 10. | Ares | 1.9% |
In the report we further read that the once almighty “Kazaa family” is now only installed on 1.3% PCs. Newcomers like FrostWire and Pando are included in the report for the fist time with a 0.2% and 0.3% install rate respectively.
As said before, the usability of these figures are doubtful. Here are a few concerns. First of all, install rates do not equal usage. The fact that someone installed a P2P client does not mean that they actually use it. So the report can’t say much about the popularity of a filesharing network or application. They do not make these claims, but the way the data is presented is a bit misleading, to say the least.
For example, uTorrent is by far the most used BitTorrent client. Over 50% of the peers in an average BitTorrent swarm use uTorrent. It could be that uTorrent and BitTorrent Mainline are installed on almost an equal number of PCs, but that the BitTorrent mainline client is hardly ever used. For instance, novices may start with the mainline client, but move on to better BitTorrent clients later on.
Another remarkable point is the uTorrent data collection for this report. uTorrent doesn’t install itself, and even the installer doesn’t use the Windows registry. So how did they come up with these statistics on uTorrent then?
It is also funny to see mIRC in the top 10 of most installed filesharing application because it is so much more than this. Most people I know use mIRC for other purposes than sharing files.
The concerns raised here show that “power” is not always in numbers. They might have collected data from millions of users, but is this really valuable if you have no idea if they actually use the application? A survey among 10.000 users where you actually ask if, and how often they use these applications is probably more useful.
And on a final note, people who want to read the report, but don’t want to pay $195 might want to try Google’s backdoor. Doubtful statistics, doubtful security.
Previously: DirectConnect Hub Shutdown By Police
Next: TorrentPod Episode 31
16 Responses (Add yours or TrackBack)
After all, 85% of statistics are made up.
May I first start by asking the question, how in the world are more people using P2P than bit torrent. its not that I don’t believe it but it just goes to show that the majority of file sharers are clueless when it comes to not only safety level but by the speed and quality from which they can get a file on bit torrent is way superior than P2P/limewire/emule/etc.
[quote comment="75182"]May I first start by asking the question, how in the world are more people using P2P than bit torrent. its not that I don’t believe it but it just goes to show that the majority of file sharers are clueless when it comes to not only safety level but by the speed and quality from which they can get a file on bit torrent is way superior than P2P/limewire/emule/etc.[/quote]
this is easy…
the p2p programs are very similar to naspter, the intro to file sharing for most people. this means that most people use limewire because they are accustomed to it’s interface and do not have to learn anything new nor do they have to do external searches. point and click takes the win.
BitTorrent is P2P too :)
i know a lot of people who cant figure out bittorrent (i mean they want to search within the bt client). and when you tell them about torrent sites and such, they give up because they say its too complicated.
I basically think it is just what donkeykong said, the frustration with not being able to figure out how to use BT or other p2p for that matter. Even though it is simple to us geeks, there is still suprisingly a large mass of people who are still point+clickers.
point taken. for some people its just about whats easy not what may or may not be the fastest/safest way.
some people can’t figure out bit torrent but I’m stuck on Usenet, it’s still so confusing to me. and its not free. oh well!
Uh, how was this data collected legally?
I imagine there are methods that are legal.
No personal information would be kept, only a database with counts of Registry Entries, not where they have come from.
And having those programs installed is no way a crime.
So nothing would come of it.
As for Limewire being more popular;
Thats not surprising, its true people would progress to the more advanced P2P program over time.
I know I did.
I remember when I was in college Napster was the shit and no one new anything about the RIAA/movie association. those where the days!
Sorry guys, this is COMPLETELY inaccurate. trust me - ignore it.
Yep, I think LimeWire is the best P2P application, too. After BitTorrent, of course… ;)
if u think limewire is a bit torrent client since it can handle torrent files
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