Vuze Reinvents Its BitTorrent Client
Written by Ernesto on October 13, 2008Vuze, formerly known as Azureus, will soon launch version 4.0 of their BitTorrent client. Inspired by feedback from users, the user interface has been completely revamped. The client itself seems to move towards an all-in-one solution, with built in search and a built in media player.
The first version of the Java based BitTorrent client Azureus was more than 5 years ago, and a lot of things have changed since then. Azureus was renamed to Zudeo, and later to Vuze. Backed by millions of dollars in venture capital the company launched its own distribution platform, which alienated some of its early users.
With the latest release, 4.0, Vuze once again introduces quite a few changes. The difference this time is that they emphasize more on the BitTorrent experience than their Vuze Network. The UI is more lightweight, less cluttered, and should appeal to both novices and hardcore BitTorrent users (old UI is still supported).
The most interesting change they made is to include BitTorrent search in the application. This allows users to search all their favorite BitTorrent sites from within the application. Mininova and BTjunkie are included by default, but any site can be added to the search, including private BitTorrent trackers.
We had the chance to discuss some of the major updates to the client with Vuze CEO, Gilles BianRosa.
TF: What was the reason to update the user interface of the client, and how is this new release an improvement to its predecessors?
Gilles: Our new UI has been directly inspired by the feedback of our users, who told us loud and clear that our previous UI was confusing and a little schizophrenic—with core torrent functionality they loved, and new features bolted on in odd places. So we’ve done a few things.
First and foremost, we’ve tried to have the application reflect our core functionality, and that’s what you’ll see across the top of the global toolbar: Find, Download, and Play. Second, you’ll see an intuitive left-nav framework that users have responded to extremely well, since it provides direct and persistent access to all of the product features. And finally, you’ll see improved category navigation within the Vuze HD Network, to enable our users to browse directly to the type of content that interests them.
Vuze search results
In terms of functionality, there are two key things users will appreciate in this release. First, there’s the new subscriptions, and second, there’s now private tracker login support for the meta-search functionality that we launched back in June.
TF: How do these new subcriptions work, and how are they different from the regular RSS feature most BitTorrent clients have?
Gilles: The new subscription feature enables users to request that specific content be sent to them automatically. Just click the orange Subscriptions button associated to content in your Library. You can set your subscriptions to download automatically, or simply to notify you when new items are available.
The big innovation here is that these subscriptions are initially created by users (usually power users) and then made available to everyone. This removes entirely the complexity associated with RSS for torrents, which tend to return lots of unwanted or duplicate results. Just click Subscribe!
TF: The latest release seems to offer an “all in one” solution where users can search, download and play content. Do you believe this approach will appeal to both advanced and new users?
Gilles: For the uninitiated, the BitTorrent ecosystem is a confusing one. In order to get up and running, a person has to find a tracker site, choose and download a torrent client, download a video player, and then figure out how each one works and how they all work together. For the new user who isn’t shown how it works, it’s almost impossible to figure out.
So, for new users, we’ve created an all-in-one BitTorrent client, that enables them to Find, Download, and Play high quality and HD content, all in one easy-to-use application. We think advanced users will like it too, since Vuze has all of the features it’s known for, plus some great new functionality like torrent meta-search with support for private trackers, and Subscriptions. As we’ve user tested the new Vuze, new and advanced users have found the all-in-one functionality to be both intuitive and powerful.
TF: You said before that you listened to feedback from users. How has this helped to develop the client?
Gilles: This release has been directly inspired by feedback from users. We’ve surveyed our users in multiple ways, talked with them on the phone, and watched them as they used the last version of Vuze client, as well as prototypes for this new one. We’ve talked to power users, casual users, and non-users. All of that is reflected in this release. That said, this release is just a foundation for the great things we’ve got in the development pipeline.
Vuze was scheduled to be launched today, but the release has been postponed for 48 hours. TorrentFreak readers who want to play around with an unofficial early release can grab it from Vuze (Win/Mac).
Previously: Artists See a Future With BitTorrent
Next: Bush Signs Draconian Anti-Piracy Law
71 Responses
Have never used Vuze, would appreciate insights from long time users in the comments…
most importantly, how does it stack up against my darling:
utorrent?
;)
uTorrent ftw!
I’ve been a utorrent user for a long time myself, but I think this is one of the best Vuze clients I’ve seen thus far.
I’m not going to switch, but I can see how it will appeal to novice users. I’m also curious to find out what die-hard Azureus/Vuze think of it.
Im a bit confused, does this move away from centralized torrent servers?
The one weak link in the hydra is the fact that we have to have the torrent files on a website.. sure the websites are doing well but worst come to worst.. it can be a bottle neck.
I hope this is better, I hated vuze but liked azureus.
I feel like a Coke guy being offered Pepsi now :D, but only in brand loyalty because just downloaded and checked it out and it does look wayy different than my darling (mentioned in my first post above)
I dont think I’m going to switch, but I wont be uninstalling it either.
@4, nope, we are there yet, we still have to depend on the weak link in the chain: the torrent websites.
A lot of us feel like you and think of torrent sites the same way dude, we are happy there are there, we love the guys running it but… it is our Achilles heal, and will be for quite some more time.
Oh, and totally unrelated but:
F*CK THE RIAA
Cheers!
Ryan
http://www.eZee.se
I read the description, and I got excited. Opened the article, scrolled down. Saw the screenshot. Then my eyes started bleeding and I closed the window (Lies, I came down here to say what happened).
“Inspired by feedback from users”
I though we all agreed on iTunes being the shitiest and most memory intense and bloatwared music application? Because this screenshot looks exactly like iTunes to me.
The only thing I wish is that uTorrents had “search” options, because I have way too many torrents loaded and it’s hard to do anything.
@7, that’s exactly what I thought when I saw the screenshot; iTunes.
What the hell?
Looks like I’m still sticking the uTorrent.
the UI is drastically different - for the better.
The Search is really cool…interested how i feel about utorrent like tomorrow.
I like that it is based on the iTunes interface, because it is the bestest interface EVAR!!!!!
The left side is identical to BitRocket. Seems both BitTorrent, Inc. and Vuze have ripped off the same ideas. Too bad it will be java and feel really weird mimicking itunes/bitrocket/xtorrent. They should have “thought fresh”.
How anyone can think that looks like iTunes is a puzzle to me. It just looks like every other Mac app. Actually, the layout is not too far from uTorrent, you know.
And how anyone can make the connection “it LOOKS like a different program which is a memory hog, thus this must be one too”… well, I don’t even know how to respond to that.
Good old Azureus kicks Vuzes butt any day. But so do µTorrent and it doesnt require all that crappy java crap. Azureus/Vuze is just old news.
so this is the final nail in the coffin :(
@4, nope, we are there yet, we still have to depend on the weak link in the chain: the torrent websites.
-Obviously your not on any good ones.
well heres my review im a fan of utorrent tried this new vuze out.
runs at 130,000 K in RAM and utilizes anywhere between 1 and 10% of my quad core cpu depending on the torrents I guess.
Vuze immediatly recognized my ISP as a throttling ISP and automatically implemented encryption which doesn’t seem to help my uploads but Im certainly not a traffic shaping expert.
The Gui was easy to navigate, which is why beginners/ novice users might find this useful.
As said previously I will keep it as well but I dont think Im going to give up utorrent quite yet.
“I though we all agreed on iTunes being the shitiest and most memory intense and bloatwared music application? ”
Careful, you’re gonna upset the Apple fanbois and get them after you.. dont you know itunes is the bestest software everrr!
@16, Obviously.
mhhhhhh dunno java stuff always “feels so weird”
why should i use an all in one pack if i can use my favorite programms for each part (firefox/opera; uTorrent; kmediaplayer)
“runs at 130,000 K in RAM and utilizes anywhere between 1 and 10% of my quad core cpu depending on the torrents I guess.” <— no way on my 1gb ram/ 1,8gh dual core. utorrent is currently @5mb/0-1% cpu
@13: “And how anyone can make the connection “it LOOKS like a different program which is a memory hog, thus this must be one too”… well, I don’t even know how to respond to that.”
An option to disable all fancy GUI stuff would make many people happy. But - even if it had that option - it’s written in Java. You should compare CPU+memory usage of uTorrent (visual c++ 6) with azureus/vuze/name-of-next-month (java) when downloading the same torrent.
I’m a little skeptical that it can be an all-in-one and still do it well. How does it perform with a wide variety of audio and video codecs? I don’t see a list of supported codecs on their site, but I’d be surprised if it supported everything I needed.
Long time Azureus user that’s been dreading this. Will be looking for something to switch to. Anyone out there got a good open source bit torrent client with queuing and throttling?
“Long time Azureus user that’s been dreading this. Will be looking for something to switch to. Anyone out there got a good open source bit torrent client with queuing and throttling?”
My Azureus still works fine. They can make new versions but it doesn’t stop me from using version 3 with Vuze disabled.
I’ve been using Vuze since the 3.0 version, but not with the iTunes style interface. Instead it is setup like Azureus was before.
the power of Azureus was the advanced options
queuing 800 torrents to automatically seed was relatively easy once you read and understood the configuration page
then the vuze interface arrived, disaster, looks terrible and they lose their market share to uTorrent
now they try again to dumb down and win back the “n00b market”
@Azureus team, you guys forgot your core competancy, you forgot what made you great, you cannot be both the best AND the n00b client
your investors are banking on you as a content distribution platform, now a media player, omg you guys are trying to be all things to all men, big mistake
look at bittorrent.com and vuze.com and weep. those sites are confused
i still use Azureus in advanced old style gui. i am ashamed and as soon as uTorrent implements advanced seed queuing then i will be outta here
By mainstreaming Bittorrent, while it seems like a great idea, does this mean that people will become careless with their downloads and bittorrent might become too popular? The consequences of this are that new laws could be passed (the governments of the world will make up laws whether or not it violates their constitutions, especially if big business supports them) and that Bittorrent may go the way of P2P networks.
I don’t know many people who don’t know how to use bittorrent. And not all of my friends are techno-geeks. The people who don’t know how to use bittorrent wouldn’t know out about the new vuze anyway, nor would they even want to download material in such a manner because of the legal implications. Of course there’s the new µTorrent for Mac coming out that has a similar search function, and XTorrent for Mac with it’s search function.
I added a few vuze search templates to the all in one search and it was quite effective in getting results very quickly. However, I can see where this will take away revenue from trackers who need the traffic for advertising etc.
It still runs using java
that in its self will stop alot of people from using it.
Also it looks to much like itunes/any other mac application
Azureus died at 2.2.5.0
This is just beating a dead horse…
Was using Azureus for a long time and like a lot of Azureus user got miffed when they started to cram Vuze onto us. Got over it and learned how to hide the Vuze client while using Azureus. I really liked all those extra features it had but, alas I had to switch to Utorrent because I could never solve the memory leak involved with leaving Azureus on 24/7. The people at Vuze says it isn’t there problem and to be fair, they may be right. It’s probably a Java thing. So I probably won’t be going be back to Vuze anytime soon as I don’t want to install Java to use it.
uTorrent v1.81 - 263kB
Vuze v4.0.0.0 rc5 - 9,085,368kB
No contest.
It’s complete bloatware with a lot of stupid web 2.0 social components. The fact that it runs in JAVA is such a waste of system resources. uTorrent or Transmission are much better options.
It looks good for beginners but i’m not switching.
You can easily use VLC for playback.
fucking looks liek a mac app
I’ll give Azureus a whirl - interesting comments.
http://www.boatpride.com
only thing about the current vuze version (hereon called azureus) is the way theyre trying to make it almost a social networking type thing. adding friends and crap like that. its a torrent client. u need it to download torrents, thats it. doesnt need a media player or anything else because different people prefer different players. and while no one says u MUST use the provided media player, its just another little piece of memory use.if it werent for security updates and such i’d still be using 2.5. that is azureus. vuze is a gay name
@20 Agreed, absolutely. Java is often a slow beast and uTorrent is very snappy. I was merely questioning the reasoning for flaming an app’s performance based on its appearance, which are two separate things, when done properly. Basing your opinion on the underlying technology, however, DOES make sense.
like the idea of the auto detection.
And the turning on of encryption.
Sometimes I see peers that don’t connect & wonder if they have theirs off. As i run my clients with it on full.
Vuze is doing a balancing act.
Those that seek paid content (keeping isp honest ).
And the mainstream bt users.
It seems this is a hard act.
but kudos to az/vuze for doing so.
@22 Deluge. Best damn bittorrent client I ever used.
uTorrent’s really really good, too.
I changed from Azureus to U torrents when they launched Vuze didnt look the look or feel. Doubt i will ever go back to azureus not unless they revamp it and go back to old school azureus !
@30
“Was using Azureus for a long time and like a lot of Azureus user got miffed when they started to cram Vuze onto us.
…
So I probably won’t be going be back to Vuze anytime soon as I don’t want to install Java to use it.”
So you don’t want to use Vuze because it needed Java, but you were happy to use Azureus even though it need Java?
@31
“Vuze v4.0.0.0 rc5 - 9,085,368kB”
9 gigabytes? I don’t think you mean that.
Anyway - just wanted to mention that the old Azureus interface is still there for those who want it, even in this release:
http://www.azureuswiki.com/index.php/The_Azureus_Experience
What I really want is less memory usage. That’s what would have made me switch back to it.
Otherwise - I pass.
I dunno.. Once bitten.. Azureus was good. Since they changed to this Vuze thing it was nothing but fail. And Java? No thanks.
uTorrent
uTorrent
uTorrent
uTorrent
uTorrent
FTW!
I hate what Vuze is and what it represents.
Been using the last version of Azureus 2 (2.5.0.4) since version 3 has nothing decent other than corporate filth.
Lol. Like so many programs this one is becoming more bloated and more bloated, incorporating tons on unrelated and unneccesary features, turning it into a giant , slow, bloated “media portal” like program. Which nobody uses and everyone hates.
Like Realplayer. Even Winamp.
As a long-time AZ user (Still using 3 with advanced) this may be the final push I need to switch to Deluge.
uTorrent just isn’t an option for me, as I do not trust the closed-source nature of the application, especially given their parent company’s affiliations.
vuze is written in java which means it’s already bloated to death like everything in java and now they bloat it even more, I don’t know what “users” have wanted all this useless crap
You can have both Azureus 2.5.0.4 and the newest Vuze on your computer at the same time, if you want. They even share program data back and forth seamlessly.
As for the constant memory usage concerns… some of you need to get a computer from the 21st century, perhaps? Memory is made to be used, after all. No P2P program uses enough memory to trip up any contemporary computer.
I can’t say I’m all that enthusiastic about that Vuze branch. Their new web site looks like a company site, and I have a distinct feeling they split from Azureus hoping they might make some serious money in business environments.
Given that I run Azureus in console mode on a server and “Vuze” is all about the client interface I couldn’t be that much interested anyway. What bothers me though is that Azureus was a resource hog already, especially memory wise, and it looks like they’re not going to improve on this matter. How anyway, it’s Java.
Either way, I’m not excited. First reason they’ll give me I’m gonna switch to something else.
OK I use uTorrent (but I did use Az 2.2 back in ‘04-5). I checked out Az 4.0 and it makes sense to cater to everyone. BitComet does this too… uTorrent does not (UNIX: simple,small,fast,good)
@ 4 All the major players support magnet: I think
@ 7 Why don’t you use labels? Search like iTunes is http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=3735
@ 14 They are the same program http://www.azureuswiki.com/index.php/Azureus_2_and_Vuze#For_the_.22I_don.27t_like_Vuze.22_crowd
@ 17 Indeed I agree. uTorrent packs great efficiency for usage, only lacking “whiz-bang” UI candy in a (now) 263 KiB executable
@ 20 See #14 comment
@ 22…If you have to ask here for open source clients… You tried Transmission/Deluge .. use libtorrent forks
@ 23 Here here ;) RTFM
@ 40 amc sorry I didn’t see your response on page 2
@ 41 It’s java :/
@ 45 It’s java :/
@ 46 Get off it. Either test it yourself prove uTorrent is badware (someone will always believe you, but most people will prove you wrong with more proof) FUD is the language of http://mafiaa.org
@ 48 Not everyone uses their main computer for torrenting.
Another Azureus 3 user here. I only made the switch to that codebase when I found out about one of the new plugins that doesn’t work with Azureus 2, but I’ll never switch to the new interface.
Azureus has a reputation of being powerful and complicated - and they can’t shake that image, because it’s true.
OK I use uTorrent (but I did use Az 2.2 back in ‘04-5). I checked out Az 4.0 and it makes sense to cater to everyone. BitComet does this too… uTorrent does not because I think the community feels UNIX standards apply… make it simple, make it work well, make it small, make it fast.
@ 4 All the major players support magnet: I think
@ 7 Why don’t you use labels? Search like iTunes is http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=3735
@ 14 They are the same program http://www.azureuswiki.com/index.php/Azureus_2_and_Vuze#For_the_.22I_don.27t_like_Vuze.22_crowd
@ 17 Indeed I agree. uTorrent packs great efficiency for usage, only lacking “whiz-bang” UI candy in a (now) 263 KiB executable
@ 20 See #14 comment
@ 22…If you have to ask here for open source clients… You tried Transmission/Deluge .. use libtorrent forks
@ 23 Here here ;) RTFM
…
@ 40 amc sorry I didn’t see your response on page 2
@ 41 It’s java :/
@ 45 It’s java :/
@ 46 Get off it. Test it yourself or stifle, FUD is the language of http://mafiaa.org
@ 48 Not everyone uses their main computer for torrenting.
Oh fuck! iTunes-like gay interface!
haha, now just to wait until vuze gets banned from trackers.
@55 - “haha, now just to wait until vuze gets banned from trackers.”
Weren’t people saying that months ago, and it still didn’t happen?
http://torrentfreak.com/azureus-is-dead-vuze-goes-social-080616/comment-page-5/#comment-422233
I will use Vuze while 2.x interface is here.
stfu with your crapware, amc1
your plan is to attract noobs ? all the companies who do so have evil on mind.
so, stfu, and if possible, get fucked by a donkey :D
I never liked Vuze. From what I read I will like 4.0 even less. If they listened to their users I must be a big exception, which I doubt. I’m still using the old Azureus UI and that was not left there without reason.
I will switch to uTorrent and will not even try 4.0
#44 by IHateVuze
“I hate what Vuze is and what it represents.
Been using the last version of Azureus 2 (2.5.0.4) since version 3 has nothing decent other than corporate filth.”
there is a shred of truth in there. bittorrent vets, like many people, may resent the commercialisation of their traditional tools and emblems.
this is where Vuze is weak, Azureus was a huge symbol for file sharers, Vuze was the sell out
the transition of our networks into the mainstream does not necessarily mean we lose our identity. i actually believe the file sharing identity is something very special and unique and difficult to dilute or pervert
bittorrent was always about freedom from vulgar media cartel commercialization. bittorrent is the liberating tool where the people take back what was taken from them, their music, their art, their creativity, their ownership of their work, their right to share their knowledge their ideas their property their opportunities their benefits their lives
Vuze you did not have to leave us, you can still hire yourself a professional marketer and segment your products and markets to better hit your targets. the all singing all dancing marvellous machine is a huge mistake. your marketing management needs replacing
http://www.h33t.com where it is h0t
Ive been an azureus user for years but there are some major annoying problems with the client that remain to be fixed. Its implimention of DHT is absolute crap. The Vuze wiki likes to blame it on ‘bad routers’ when those router are probably the most widely used equipment on residential connections. No other client I’ve tried completely kills internet browsing whith DHT/PEX enabled, so I fail to understand why Vuze does.
Another is adware. Yep, Vuze now has advertisements. Just great. Thats what I like to see in a bittorrent client, damn adverts that cannot be disbaled. Funny thing is most of the time its a targeted advert for Virgin Media broadband, which I already have.
Next is the changes to the UI. When using the library in list view, double click no longer opens the detail, but Explorer. Details need to be accessed via context which is crap. Also, in Uploading, there is no column for upload speed. WTF.
Last but not least, toolbars. Yeah I know you can untick the box and not have them installed, but why the fork are they even there in the first place. Every god damn installer now seems to want to install some shitty toolbar.
As time goes on, Vuze just becomes more FAIL. I’ve downloaded Deluge and am seriously considering ditching Vuze once and for all because as fr as I’m concerned they have completely lost the plot.
I started off with bittornado, then changed to azureus. But then, it changed to vuze,and became very resource heavy, I changed to utorrent. Thanks.
I like it. Looks great, works great. I think they did a great job of integrating the classic (advanced) UI.
You can bring up the “old” style advanced view from 3.x by clicking on the right hand View button. This is located in the upper right area of My Library screen.
As stated, the new view omits important basic torrent information such as seeds and peers, upload speed, etc.
For example, a seeding torrent went to “queued”, and that got me to checking my settings as I don’t have a limit on # of seeding torrents… I switched views, saw I had no leechers, and solved the mystery.
The default UI is going downhill, no doubt about it.
As a long time Azureus user, I was about to abandon what is now called Vuze when they switched the UI to utter crap in the Vuze release.
Azureus has been one of the staple bit torrent clients for a lot of people, and prior to being renamed and having it’s user interface screwed up by trying to be first in the gold rush to monetize azureus for the purpose of ads, content and movie downloads they did a horrible job with the fist release of Vuze (formerly azureus).
I used Azureus primarily simply because a bit-torrent client is a bit-torrent client is a bit-torrent client… it was functional enough even with the sluggish UI and the use of Java.
Azureus was good enough until Vuze came along and totally screwed up the user interface. I’m happy to say that Vuze is much cleaner now and is back to satisfactory status.
Bit-torrent clients don’t really matter that much, as long as they are usable and get the job done, and don’t slow my computer to a crawl or annoy the crap out of me with bad UI.
My dislike for Vuze is surpassed only by my dislike for uTorrent - to that end, use NoVuze!
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4281737/Azureus2.jar%5Bv3.1.1.0_NoVuze%5D
@55 (amc1)
“Vuse 4.0 is currently NOT supported by our tracker,” - mass pm on one of my private trackers
I like the new theme and everything and don’t care if it is a resource hog I have 4 gigs of RAM. Vuze 4 rocks :)
@amc1 (well if you’re lurking around)
I got the latest as a fallback to Halite 0.3.1.1. But of course I’m in the “classic” UI camp, having the option to switch between UIs are still good though for experimenting purposes. Installed size on hdd remains 20+-ish Mbs which is good. There’s NONE of that old clunk and heft, in fact I think 4.0.0.0 seems to improve in many ways at that. 1 puzzling thing that I just can’t seem to figure are at Vuze’s ability at peer connections local or remote and the ability to dodge hefty throttling. I don’t quite know how to specify it but for lack of better examples, I’ll put Halite in the perspective. Halite seems to be able to connect to as many as it could to those on plain text encryption and RC4 as well. It can hold them down, lets me use the set UL slots effectively when I can seed. Of course it’s evident that I get better DL consistency. The older Vuze 3.1.0.0 works actually the same but halfway through it panned out the same as the current.Any hints as to why? To those having issues with DHT, no offense but I can’t seem to reproduce the issue. Even disabled, Vuze are able to perform as advertised. Plus I don’t see any diffs of DHT enabled or disabled, I leave it disabled 99% of the time.
Let’s hope they finally fixed my bug report in this version. Have been manually removing that ugly progress bar that’s always at 75% for me. The “Automatically remove inactive items” option stopped working after the 3.0 update.
@68 - if you’ve got something in particular that we can look at, post on our forums, perhaps we can see how things are.
@69 - I think that’s been fixed.
amc1 wrote (about trackers banning Vuze Bob ):
“Weren’t people saying that months ago, and it still didn’t happen?”
You mean at about the same time you released a Vuze Bob version that actually had “Vuze” as client ID ?
How come you switched it back to “azureus” then ?
Why don’t you just make a azureus2.jar without the Bob UI and
make it available as a download for those who know how to use a browser
and a media-player ? Since you say it only takes 5 minutes you would save a lot of time that you are wasting defending Bob each new release .
.. and all the old die-hard azureus-fans would think your
company is pretty cool..
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