by Enigmatic

Created on: September 08, 2009   Last Updated: September 10, 2009

BitTorrent is the very first client created for peer-to-peer programs that paved the way for many other programs like it. Its newest version is 6.0 and is still being supported by its original owners. It is only available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

This file sharing program in specific is a very well-coded and stable client and its increase in popularity has had so much influence that different spin-offs of it have been created.

It can be downloaded from http://www.bittorrent.com/ (for free) fairly quickly, since its size is only about 2.4MB. The install process is also very quick and streamlined that almost anyone can pretty much do it.

Once that's finished, it's time to get started using BitTorrent. For the most part, it's very run-of-the-mill where there's a built-in search bar available to search for torrents. It's possible to manually download a torrent from sites like Isohunt and ThePirateBay, but using the search bar is a more user-friendly tool. The problem with this is that it's usually better to manually download the torrents so you know beforehand how many seeders and peers are also downloading the torrent.

BitTorrent also offers several more technical information and advantages for it for your interest. Among those are:

- Statistical and graphical views that provide a feed of accurate and specific information for the user.

- A feed of information that shows the number of peers and seeds which are currently present. This data also tells the user how much information is being downloaded, as well as how much of it is being uploaded.

- It hosts a wide variety of options for your benefit, such as moderating the rate of kb/s that you're uploading/downloading.

- Provides the tool to create your own torrents, as well as share them.

- One feature that many would have been frustrated without is its automatic recovery system. After events such as an abrupt shutdown like a power failure or personal fault, the program will check the data that it currently has. This means that you won't have to download the item you are torrenting again in cases like these.

- A self-governing feature that dictates what the optimal settings are for peering between itself, trackers and other clients. This allows for faster download rates.

- Although applicable to almost any file sharing program, using BitTorrent or any other program like it will still yield the same number of seeds and peers for the same torrent.

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