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.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Unfortunately, as fast as we report such things, the malware peddlers create yet more bad clients with new names, but carrying the same bad story. However, these guys are very determined to get software such as CIDHELP on your machine, ready to watch your activities and to this end have become quite creative. Recently BitTorrent users are reporting that they have downloaded various pieces of video (usually a TV show) only to be confronted with a message during the first few seconds of the video which advises them to download a new media player called 3wPlayer, in order to view the rest of the file.

The displayed url directs the unsuspecting to the Play3W site, where they are given the chance of installing a shiny new media player.

From the screenshot you will see that there is a ‘more’ button and when you install this player ‘more’ is exactly what you get – more malware in the form of CIDHELP, yet again. It can be difficult task to uninstall it too, especially when you consider the veiled legal threat on the CIDHELP site – the vendor warns you could be in breach of the EULA if you try to remove it with your anti-spyware software. To get rid of the software, they advise to first turn off your anti-adware/spyware software and re-install the software, something that rings a few alarm bells!

It may seem that every pusher in the world is getting involved in the BitTorrent malware scene but a simple WHOIS on all the domains hosting the torrent clients listed above, (Torrent101 for example) including the 3wPlayer site, reveals that they are more than likely the same outfit, exploiting the less experienced members of the BitTorrent community. Anyone concerned about a particular torrent should take the time to read the user comments on the site where the torrent was downloaded from. Very often problems such as fake files are spoken about there.

Anyone needing a media player that will deal with almost any video format should consider the excellent VLC Media Player, available for free download. Those who still haven’t settled on a quality BitTorrent client will find everything they need by getting uTorrent. No spyware, adware or malware present in either product.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

After a long weekend of testing we gave a thumbs-up and wish the development team many more releases. Not all BitTorrent users see the need for all these extra functionalities (I still prefer uTorrent), but those who do should definitely try Tribler.

Some of the features of Tribler which set it apart from other BitTorrent clients are:

Yes, we are probably a little biased! This is made-in-Holland, which means a part of the tax money I paid went to Tribler because the project is state funded.

Here is a screenshot of the file view with Youtube-like thumbnail grid. You can download download Tribler V4.0 here.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Unfortunately, several popular torrent sites carried advertising for these bad clients but thankfully, sites like The Pirate Bay saw the damage these things can cause and removed the adverts. TPB’s brokep wrote, “We’re getting a lot of email about people downloading torrent clients that are advertised on the site. Do not download them! We have put a ban for the ad companies to sell ads for these clients on our site.” Mininova and Snarf-it also blocked the adverts.

In February, we reported on yet another client, TorrentQ after a tip-off from the owner of BT-Junkie. Of course, this wasn’t a new client but the old one with a new name.

In April, in order to try to save unsuspecting file-sharers from installing malware, we ran Google Adword campaigns on the BitRoll, Torrent101 and TorrentQ websites, informing people of just how bad these clients are. Google apparantly doesn’t like to be associated with bad news and a few days later, Adsense adverts disappeared from the sites.

Disappointingly, we are now exposed to yet another ‘new’ bad torrent client. Get-Torrent is the latest in a sequence of malware-laden torrent clients, cloned from the same infected DNA as BitRoll, Torrent101 and TorrentQ. As can be seen from the client’s ‘skinning’ pages, these products are identical;

As we promised in our earlier posts, every time a bad client appears we will do our best to let the BitTorrent community know about it. Anyone thinking of installing a BitTorrent client should stay away from these products and install a free, clean client, such as uTorrent.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Of course these campaigns were just for “fun”. It was nice to turn their advertising strategy against them, and help some naive BitTorrent users along the way. However, the downside of it all is that they now make money off my ads, which allows them to advertise their crappy BitTorrent clients on other websites, so it’s not really an optimal solution.

Here’s an example of the TorrentFreak ad on the Torrent101 website. If people clicked the link, they were directed to this post about Torrent101.

Luckily, most BitTorrent site admins don’t allow ads for these shady clients on their sites. Brokep from The Pirate Bay said earlier “We’re getting a lot of email about people downloading torrent clients that are advertised on the site. Do not download them! We have put a ban for the ad companies to sell ads for these clients on our site.”, and the admins of mininova and btjunkie also banned all ads for these BitTorrent clients on their websites.

People need to be aware that these clients can seriously mess-up up your computer, and the Google adwords campaigns were a fun way to do this. I’m happy to see that Google search is giving a helping hand as well, for free.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.