Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, Beta Beat
Xtorrent Beta 3: RSS "Torrentcast" Support
We've mentioned the two previous betas of Dave Watanabe's excellent bittorrent client Xtorrent. Now beta 3 is out and adds a long promised feature: RSS support. With beta 3, you can subscribe to a RSS feed from a torrent tracker site, and, according to Dave, "you are presented with a continuously updated list of torrents from that feed." Starting the downloading just requires a click of the download button. Continuing the recent trend, Xtorrent is available now with special "pre-release pricing," for $15.89 (versus $18.99 when released). Xtorrent definitely seems to be the most stylish of the Mac bittorent clients; with the excellent built-in torrent searching features and RSS feed support, it looks to be a certain winner. Perhaps the biggest thing Xtorrent still needs is support for some sort of automated downloading, so that the user wouldn't even have to hit the download button.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Adam said 12:13PM on 2-11-2007
I love this little app, but it is still missing one key feature... the ability to select specific files inside the torrent and also the ability to select where to save your download for each individual torrent.
I'm pretty OCD when it comes to my organization on my computer and I like to be able to organize where my torrent files go, and as of right now I cannot do that in Xtorrent. Once that's added though I think I can kiss "azureus" goodbye (its such a memory hog anyways!)
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Peter said 12:28PM on 2-11-2007
I wonder how much code hes stolen this time?
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Colin Roberts said 12:34PM on 2-11-2007
does this eat less of my sys resources that Azureus?
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kvn said 12:35PM on 2-11-2007
i dont like that it doesnt work with some trackers =( Zudeo for me
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Leonard Nimrod said 12:53PM on 2-11-2007
While it's true that it has several nice fetures taht other torrent apps don't have, it still lacks afew things (as mentioned by the first poster) that I need in a torrent app.
Since Azereus is such a resource hog I'm going to stick with the excellent and free uTorrent running on Parallels in Coherence Mode.
If Xtorrent can address it's many flaws (hold off on RSS until you get the basic operation ironed out) then I'd be willing to fork over $20 for this software.
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Rubbinz said 12:56PM on 2-11-2007
The continuing trend will be XTorrent getting banned by more and more trackers. And morons paying for beta software.
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Bungle said 1:06PM on 2-11-2007
1. Clients using libtransmission are banned from an increasing number of trackers, this is already going the same way.
2. You can't choose a particular file within a torrent.
3. Why the hell should anyone pay for a BT client?
4. Watanabe's track record is shady at best.
All in all, no thanks.
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Mark said 1:27PM on 2-11-2007
Pay for something that lets me steal television shows? No thanks.
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Adam Turetzky said 1:56PM on 2-11-2007
Will any Mac Bit Torrent client ever support safepeer?
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Kakaze said 2:05PM on 2-11-2007
Not only is he charging for BETA software but he's charging for a Bit Torrent client?! WTF is that?
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JkEw said 3:00PM on 2-11-2007
Anyone that pays for a BT client should have their head examined!
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Gordraf said 3:15PM on 2-11-2007
I like Transmission. It's simple, it's clean, and it's fast.
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nate said 3:24PM on 2-11-2007
Tacky as hell. A pretty GUI with the same under-the-hood features found in the free Transmission. No protocol encryption, no selective downloading, no thanks.
The best BitTorrent implementation for OS X is uTorrent running in Parallels Desktop.
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miyamotofreak said 4:51PM on 2-11-2007
Jeez its watanabe if you noticed he eventually makes his pograms fully featured. He's using libtransmission but he and the devs are gonna share any changed to make it better and the transmission guys already are working on selective downloading, ability to create a torrent, and encryption. So I'm sure you'll get you money worth.
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mark said 6:39PM on 2-11-2007
If you like the abilities of Azureus, but don't like your machine running at the speed of a Pentium I: try running Azureus headless with the XML plugin and the Azureus dashboard widget.
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Eli said 7:14PM on 2-11-2007
Well said Bungle (#8). It's shameful that TUAW keeps giving this thief free publicity. Why anybody would pay money for libtransmission (which is banned just about everywhere) with Acquisition's UI is beyond me. It's not even a good design.
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Adam said 10:19PM on 2-11-2007
Kakaze... it doesn't cost money for the beta, you can Pre-Order the final release.
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DeMarko said 1:07AM on 2-12-2007
I have to agree with several of the previous posts. Dave Watanabe has a less than spectacular record. I don't see why TUAW must repeatedly blog about XTorrent. It isn't a good piece of software, there's nothing to discuss, BitRocket did better in one release than Watanabe could do in 100. Also, can someone please explain why you would want to PAY for a BIT TORRENT client...it defeats the purpose. And a feedreader? LA DEE FREAKIN DAH, that's nothing new
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michel said 2:19AM on 2-12-2007
>. I wonder how much code hes stolen this time?
can you give up the witch hunt ?
what is your problem ? he is red ? a bAD bad asian no-american goody goody person ? he is not your typical character from great hollywood movie ?
it made one fault, he misuses some source code , he was insulted for that, it was all a fuss everywhere on internet
you know what? it happens OFTEN. licences are IMPORTANT but sometimes COMPLICATED and sometimes people think "open" source is "public" , but no it's wrong. okay. people learns. it's great.
so yes, he _was_ wrong. now, stop the accusations ! it's really insane and frightening.
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Biffo said 2:43AM on 2-12-2007
@miyamotofreak: you say, "So I'm sure you'll get you money worth" [sic].
Actually, until someone designs a completely new type of client, with features not seen in any other, which is light years ahead of its time and reshapes the face of BitTorrenting as we know it, then NO - none of us will be getting our money's worth when the price is anything greater than $0.00.
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