Filed under: Software, Internet Tools
Xtorrent Beta 1
You kids and your bittorrents. Why, I remember when I was in college and Napster was all the rage (this was when Napster was new, and still cool). We had one source for our downloads and we liked it.
Now everyone is bittorrenting files to and fro (only open source software and the like, I am sure), and now there is a new OS X bittorent client called Xtorrent. This is from Dave Watanabe, the creator of NewsFire, so you know it is going to be pretty. Xtorrent has a bunch of neat features, and is now available as a beta. Check it out, bugs and all (I mean, it is a beta).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Paul Stamatiou said 3:16PM on 9-18-2006
My only problem with it is that the creator is basing it off of open source code, adding some graphics and a search feature.. and charging for it. If you're going to charge for it, build it from the ground up.
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mxz said 3:27PM on 9-18-2006
Bittorrent delivers quality US television programming to Europe in a wonderful HD resolution and multichannel sound, mere hours after premiere, totally ad free. What more could kids want!
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Callum said 4:23PM on 9-18-2006
hands down, this is the best bittorrent app i've ever seen and used.
wow, i knew this would come.
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George said 3:31PM on 9-18-2006
Support BitRocket instead. It's Open Source and has superior features.
http://www.bitrocket.org/
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Michael May said 3:44PM on 9-18-2006
mmm... purdy
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Ink Master said 4:01PM on 9-18-2006
I've been using it for a few hours now, and I must say, I really like it; that progress square seems to be pure eye candy; but hell, still cool when your pc friends are like 'wow, whats that cool thing' - so yeah... like all of his other projects; awesome app... - I just wonder how much its gonna cost :p
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Will said 4:09PM on 9-18-2006
Question 1: is it based off the same code as Transmission?
Question 2: if so, did it fix the issue with the announce interval?
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Hawkman said 4:26PM on 9-18-2006
Surprise surprise, it looks like iTunes 7. Didn't see that one coming...
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Will said 4:33PM on 9-18-2006
RE: Hawkman
Surprise surprise, it looks like Newsfire and their previous applications that were released well before iTunes 7.
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Chet said 4:41PM on 9-18-2006
Right now I'm using Transmission because it's working pretty well. The official BT client stopped working for some reason.
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Chris said 4:42PM on 9-18-2006
So how much? It's nice, but if it becomes the cash-grabber like Acquistion is, I'm sticking with the freebs out there.
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Justin said 4:44PM on 9-18-2006
Anyone else getting freezes in this program? I have tried it three times, and each time I get the SBBOD after a couple of searches.
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Callum said 4:56PM on 9-18-2006
no crashes for me, been running for a good 2 hours now, 3 or 4 torrents downloaded. just fine.
iBook G4, 1GB RAM, 1GHz... no problems.
and hello - iTunes 7, how about AcquasitionX. Same author... same wonderful optimism with the early beta, later to be crushed by $20 price tag... hmm Chris?
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Travis said 4:59PM on 9-18-2006
I'd like to know what code it's based off of (libtransmission, BT python's source etc.) Also, the "blocks" in the corner look very similar to the Sidekick OS (1.x and 2.x) background. When I commented on this on his Blog my comment was deleted.
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Ethel said 5:07PM on 9-18-2006
> Question 1: is it based off the same code as Transmission?
> Question 2: if so, did it fix the issue with the announce interval?
Will, the answers are 1) Yes. 2) I don't know but I doubt it.
This will have to offer some serious benefits over the free options before I pay any cash for it, integrated search is nice but no deal maker for me. Selective downloading would be a step in the right direction but neither Xtorrent nor the other recent addition to the game, BItrocket, offer this as yet.
It seems to be all the rage to be offering BT clients for the Mac at the moment, but sorry, a pretty UI ain't gonna cut it. Once somebody offers Azureus features with a small footprint they're gonna have this market stitched up...but no one's getting close yet.
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thomas_h said 9:00AM on 9-20-2006
does anyone know of a BT app that lets you schedule when downloads will start ? ( and stop ? )
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Jon Vasil said 5:47PM on 9-18-2006
"Once somebody offers Azureus features with a small footprint they're gonna have this market stitched up...but no one's getting close yet."
bingo. and thats why im sticking with the official client for now. very limited features, but at least i know itll work right and run fast, even on my aging g4 powerbook.
but what we REALLY need is a µTorrent mac client...
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Entica said 6:11PM on 9-18-2006
uTorrent FTW. The only reason to keep Parallels running, or that old skanky pentium sitting in the basement.
This looks like it could be good but I'll wait until I see if it gets banned on the private trackers I belong to because of announce interval crap.
E.
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Mason Galindo said 6:34PM on 9-18-2006
I'm quite happy with Xtorrent so far. Aside from a amazingly well designed and clean UI, it runs stable and isn't a resource hog. I tried a download with the port 6881 closed and achieved a 22kbps download speed. Not bad. I then tried the same download with port 6881 forwarded and hovered around 10kbps. This particular file had a swarm 465 users large consisting of 269 seeds and 196 peers. My first attempt, with port 6881 closed was performed about 10 minutes before my second attempt with the port open. Swarm conditions must've changed in that time span however I fully expect the speed to pickup soon. As I'm writing now it's increased to a solid 12kbps.
No, these speeds aren't blazing fast. Perhaps it's the file I'm downloading? I'm not exactly sure.
Hopefully some other readers will report their speeds with Xtorrent. I'm really quite pleased with it so far though download speeds notwithstanding. Now, as I finish this writing I'm plugging along at 45kbps.
This program has a lot of potential. The search function is amazing and the ability to add other trackers to search is very useful. I've already added my favorites.
I'm hoping that once this is released and leaves the beta stages, it's price tag isn't a deterrent.
So far I'm very happy!
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miyamotofreak said 7:14PM on 9-18-2006
How can I add Scrapetorrent to the sites to search list? An exact url anyone?
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