uTorrent for Mac is Coming: An Early Review
Written by Ernesto on June 26, 2007When BitTorrent Inc bought uTorrent, the most popular Windows BitTorrent client, they announced that they would begin porting it to both the Mac and Linux. They have. Here’s a preview of the “soon to be released” Mac version of uTorrent.
Up until now, BitTorrent users on a Mac haven’t had the chance to use the fastest, smallest, most portable and appealing BitTorrent client ever, but this is about to change. Unfortunately we don’t have a confirmed date for the official release yet, judging on the state of the BETA version that’s being tested at the moment, it wont take long.
Let’s start off with some screenshots.
The Installation Disk Image
Main Window with Downloads
Click to enlarge.
Speed
The main reason I like uTorrent so much is because downloads are considerably faster in it than in any other BitTorrent client. This held true when I compared uTorrent Mac to Transmission and Xtorrent. The downloads speeds in both couldn’t match uTorrent’s. Azureus was the only one that came close, just as I had expected.
Application Launch Time
uTorrent Mac, just like its Windows counterpart, is super-light. It launches immediately (not even 1 bounce in the Dock!). This is clearly one piece of well-coded software. Probably part of the reason why BitTorrent Inc decided to buy it.
Interface
uTorrent Mac has a simple, yet appealing interface that is easy to use and navigate. It’s not as stylish as Xtorrent’s, but then again, no one can create interfaces like David Watanabe.
Search
Though it may seem that uTorrent has some sort of built-in search functionality, currently only offered by BitRocket and Xtorrent on the Mac, it does not. Typing something such as “HDTV” into the search box and hitting return will merely open a BitTorrent.com search page in your default browser.
Conclusion
It’s too early to draw conclusions but it’s a great first impression, especially for a pre-release version.
It’s worth mentioning that some Mac users such as myself like uTorrent so much, we even prefer running it under emulation than using one of the available Mac BitTorrent clients. uTorrent is not only the most popular Windows BitTorrent client according to a poll we conducted last year, but also the winner of our BitTorrent clients comparison.
Many of you are probably dying to download uTorrent Mac. Hang in there, it’s coming real soon.
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I’m hoping they make it for powerpcs too.
Looking good so far. I’m awaiting a more mature release before I start using it reliably as my main torrenting software.
Nice sleek desing!
i know what those 2 files are
Awesome! I too use uTorrent through Parallels on my Mac because all the current Mac clients suck in one way or another. I can’t wait to get my hands on this.
“…but then again, no one can create interfaces like David Watanabe.”
Nobody has the cold heart steal gnu licensed code, charge, and not release source like Watanabe either.
/rant
^ Agreed. And he hides reports about bugs in his software. Don’t give that asshat any more face time than his delusional fans already do.
How do the transfer speeds compare to BitTyrant?
wow, can’t wait to use it!
Can you select individual files for download? That’s something I really miss on the mac (without going to Java and Azureus).
Are all Windows Features retained?
Like FIle selection?
DHT Support?
Does uTorrent do RSS filtering and does it implement something like SafePeer? Azureus is not the best client out there, but unless this supports at least some equivalent plugins it won’t be as useful and you won’t be as protected. If it does, and its as fast as everyone on the PC side says I’ll switch in an instant. The only reason I use Azureus is for the features. It does seem like a resource hog and the interface is slow. Speaking of interface, does uTorrent have a web interface so I can control it while I’m away from home?
really looking foward to this release. I have been running transmission builds from svn daily and transmission is comming along nicely. I hear utorrent is suppose to be the shit and I can’t wait to give it a shot.
Any word on a linux release? While this is good news, since soon I can ditch Azureus on my Mac, I want to give it the boot from my linux boxes too. Great app, downloads fast, gives me lots of control, just not resource friendly (not to mention extremely bloated on OSX, and prone to never ever killing off processes properly when exiting, leaving orphaned processes).
:P
Give us the SVN trunk URL :D
hope the linux version can run on the command line with only the web interface as a gui, would be great on my server :)
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