Filed under: Software, Productivity, Internet Tools
Transmission 0.8 released with selective file downloads, UI changes and much more

You TUAW readers have spoken loud and clear: Transmission is your favorite BitTorrent client. If you're nodding your head right now, you'll be happy to know that v0.8 of the cross-platform app has gone official, ushering in a boatload of new features and fixes for all OSes it works on, as well as some great Mac-only goodies. Before we get to the new stuff, however, I have to echo a warning on the main Transmission page: if you're in the middle of any downloads right now, finish them before upgrading; you could lose data if you jump the gun.
That said, let's talk about the shiny new changes. First up, here are the new feature highlights that everyone can enjoy:
- Ability to selectively download and prioritize files
- Torrent file creation
- Speed and CPU load improvements
- Better rechecking of torrents that have many files
- Overlay when dragging torrent files, URLs, and data files onto window
- Ability to set an amount of time to consider a transfer stalled
- More progress bar colors
- Various smaller interface improvements
- Italian, Korean, and Russian translations
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
pedro said 8:09PM on 8-07-2007
show some love for dave watanabe
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Jason said 8:21PM on 8-07-2007
Love D.W. Gimmie' some XTorrent!
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artifex said 8:23PM on 8-07-2007
Anyone using BitTyrant? :)
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Fernando said 8:34PM on 8-07-2007
F Yes! Take that watanabe!
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Evan said 8:40PM on 8-07-2007
I wish there was a way to switch clients and not have to recheck 40 seeded torrents... anyone?
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Rhywun said 8:43PM on 8-07-2007
I posted a comment favorable to Xtorrent the other day. I have since heard that the single-file download and other new features in libtransmission are supposed to be GPL'ed against other developers using it for closed-source projects. So as of today, I am back on Transmission....
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Gimp said 9:05PM on 8-07-2007
As a member of the transmission development team, I hope you all enjoy the new features, we've been working long and hard on these ones. and to those who ask, yes, encryption and DHT are planned for sometime in the future
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mph said 9:38PM on 8-07-2007
Is Transmission as safe, in terms of blocking RIAA IP addresses, as Azureus?
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obcm said 9:46PM on 8-07-2007
Great work guys. Best OS X torrent client just keeps getting better.
And good re the license change for some bits. Always disappointing to see other developers taking advantage of people who release open source code so i'm glad you guys are limiting the usage a bit more
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his noodly appendage said 10:28PM on 8-07-2007
The best bittorrent client for macs, and it's only going to get better. People should think about supporting open source software instead of the developers who rip it off and slap a nice GUI on it. Besides, I'd much rather have a customizable interface like Transmission has than a certain other client that does not allow for customization.
Hooray!
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tyler said 11:46PM on 8-07-2007
It's been a working nightly beta like this for a while. Been using it for a few weeks.
Very good though.
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Dom Barnes said 3:23AM on 8-08-2007
It may just be me but v0.80 seems to allocate all the disk space needed for a torrent now, rather than allocating as it goes.
Can anyone else confirm?
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Martin said 6:35AM on 8-08-2007
Thank you! Finally a client besides fat Azureus that can selectivly download files from a torrent!
I will give it a try and maybe ditch Bits on Wheels.
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mikel egurra said 6:57AM on 8-08-2007
still happy with xtorrent.
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Daniel Bagge said 7:42AM on 8-08-2007
One funny thing to note about this release is the license. As of 0.8 all new code is licensed under GPL. The old code is still avalible under the more liberal MIT license.
This move was made to prevent "blatant attempts to profit significantly from our work", as one developer on the offical forum put it. For people familiar to the world of OS X it's clear whom they mean.
Looks like ol' Dave Watanabe will have to do some coding on his own from now on. He's been very unwilling to contribute anything att all to Transmission. Maybe it was his answer to a question on his blog that pissed the developers off. The question was - why doesn't he contribute back to Transmission sense he's the one making money on it? His answer was that he would gladly do some coding for Transmission - if they where to pay him. D'oh!
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Paul said 2:05PM on 8-08-2007
Does this new version allow you to block leechers from downloading from you? That's the only feature I've found to be missing from Transmission. Otherwise it's my favorite shiny thing in the whole world.
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dc302 said 1:55AM on 8-09-2007
Yeah! Thats right. David Watanabe is no good...Sure he has created a good looking application..but for $30, he should have been far ahead of even Azureus in terms of features and what not...Instead, he goes and steals code, makes the interface a little fancy and charges the sky for it.
Hats off to the folks in Transmission development team...have been using it since yesterday, I can see a lot of improvements including the banning issue and selective downloading...And the interface is, especially selective downloading mechanism (individual file/folder choice) and prioritizing buttons, simply too good. Great work...My hearty congrats on a job well done :)
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