ΜTorrent
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The correct title of this article is μTorrent. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
| µTorrent | |
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|---|---|
 Screenshot of µTorrent |
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| Maintainer: | BitTorrent, Inc. |
| Stable release: | 1.6.1 (Build 490) (February 15, 2007) [+/-] |
| Preview release: | 1.7 BETA (Build 1137) (April 7, 2007) [+/-] |
| OS: | Microsoft Windows |
| Use: | BitTorrent client |
| License: | Freeware |
| Website: | www.utorrent.com |
µTorrent (also known as microTorrent or uTorrent) is a freeware BitTorrent client for Microsoft Windows written in C++, and translated into 39 different languages. The program is a single 199 KB compressed executable (as of version 1.7 BETA build 1111, 6th April 2007). It was designed to use as little of a computer's resources as possible while offering functionality equivalent to the most popular, full-featured clients, such as Azureus or BitComet. Its name is frequently abbreviated as "µT" or "uT" .
On December 7, 2006, µTorrent developer Ludvig Strigeus and BitTorrent, Inc. CEO Bram Cohen announced that BitTorrent, Inc. acquired µTorrent.[1]
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[edit] Features
µTorrent implements many of the features introduced by much larger clients such as Azureus, BitComet and BitTornado. The program's typical memory usage is less than 6 MB, and the CPU usage is low enough for the program to run on very old computers (including 486s).
Some of the more notable features present in µTorrent include:
- Unicode support. It utilizes embedded Unicode support for Windows 95/98/ME, avoiding the need for the Microsoft Layer for Unicode which is several times the size of µTorrent.
- UPnP support for all versions of Windows, implemented without the use of Windows XP's UPnP framework.
- Protocol encryption (PE)
- Peer exchange (PEX) with other µTorrent clients
- PEX with Azureus will be possible once Azureus upgrades to the enhanced messaging protocol[2].
- MooPolice has implemented full µTorrent PEX support.
- KTorrent has implemented full µTorrent PEX support as of 2.1 RC1.
- RSS ("broadcatching")
- "Trackerless" BitTorrent support, using DHT compatible with the original BitTorrent client and BitComet
- User configurable intelligent disk caching system
- Full proxy support
- HTTPS tracker support
- Configurable bandwidth scheduler
- Customizable search bar and icons
- Localized to 38 languages[3]
- Initial seeding
- Customizable user interface design[4]
[edit] Size
Shipped as a single, stand-alone executable of 173 KB compressed executable (as of version 1.6.1 Beta Build 490, 13th February 2007), the software does not require installation, though an installation program is also available (at 597 KB). Its size was achieved by avoiding the use of many libraries (notably, the C++ standard library and stream facilities) and creating substitutes written specifically for the program. The executable is also compressed to roughly half of its original size using PECompact2.
[edit] Development
- Ludvig Strigeus (aka "ludde", from Sweden) is the developer of µTorrent.
- Giancarlo Martínez (aka "Firon", from Puerto Rico) maintains the µTorrent forums and FAQ.
- Timothy Su (aka "ignorantcow", from Malaysia) is the current website designer.
- Serge Paquet (aka "vurlix", from Canada) previously coordinated releases, had intended to work on Linux and Mac OS X ports and maintained the µTorrent website and forum. He is no longer affiliated with µTorrent.
- Carsten Niebuhr (aka "Directrix", from Germany) developed and maintains the µTorrent Web User Interface.
[edit] History
[edit] Development
In general discontent with bloatware, Serge Paquet suggested to Ludvig Strigeus that he make a small, yet efficient, BitTorrent client. Strigeus began to conceptualize the plans for the program's development, which, at the time, did not include making the client feature-rich. After initially working on it for about a month during the autumn of 2004 (the first build is dated October 17, 2004), mostly during his free time before or after work, Strigeus ceased coding µTorrent for a year. Work on the client resumed on September 15, 2005, and on September 18, 2005, the first public release (version 1.1 beta) was made available. In turn, (as of ver. 1.6, build 474) the size of the µTorrent executable has more than doubled in size since its initial release, which was 77 KB.
[edit] Controversy
While the causes of suspicion, mentioned below, among P2P users have caused a backlash against µTorrent, many—including those who are aware of the controversy—dismiss the concerns as paranoia and continue to endorse the use of the software.[5]
[edit] Closed source
Critics point out that since µTorrent is closed source, there is no way of independently verifying whether the program contains spying code. The creator denies that there is any, and to date, no one has published evidence of μTorrent attempting to spy on a user's activities, which should be possible to detect—although impractical for most users—since an application's activity can be monitored for evidence of suspicious behavior without having the source, as shown by anti-virus companies who observe and analyze the behavior of trojans, rootkits and worms.
In early versions, Strigeus had built in a redirection for search queries entered through the search bar that displayed advertisements in a frame on the web browser. Some users thought this suspicious because tracking could be implemented by recording the ip addresses of those downloading/receiving the advertisements, and the search functionality could easily be used to track user queries through whichever web-interface the client is going through to execute the search. After a short trial period, the advertising was disabled, mitigating possible concerns. Here is a quotation from the official forum administrator "Firon":
| “ | There's no data collected, it's just used to display ads for certain keywords (sex-related words, try searching for the word porn to see it, though that's not the only word that matches). The rest are passed through normally. In either case, no data is actually collected.
It was used as a domain instead of being integrated into the client so the ad thing could be turned off later easily if the response to it was negative. Also, it may be used in the future to provide a "search all sites" feature.[6] |
” |
The forum administrator's prediction was correct: the latest version of the software has, instead of ads, a "search all sites" feature, which is a keyword-based search bar that delivers listings of torrent files at different trackers. There is a frame at the top displaying advertisements (server-side) in the browser when the search function is used. At this point, in version 1.5, no ads are present in the program itself.
It has also been indicated by forum administrator "Firon" that Ludde added an option in the next beta that will bypass the nanotorrent.com redirect altogether.[7]
| “ | Well, he did want to put ads for the searches, but he wanted to avoid putting ads/adware/spyware in the client itself (or put the ads through a 3rd party), and wanted a way to turn off the ads for whatever reason. And now he's going to add the bypass for the people who don't want their searches going through nanotorrent, or seeing ads there.
[He's] not going to put [in] more ads or anything evil like that. [Ads] in the search site is the extent to which things will go.[8] |
” |
As of build 463, the bypass became available in the Advanced options.
[edit] PeerFactor SARL
On March 4, 2006, PeerFactor SARL[9] announced the signing of a six-month contract with Strigeus for the development of "new content distribution applications on the Web."[10] PeerFactor SARL is a relatively new company formed by former employees of PeerFactor,[11] which was a subsidiary of the French anti-piracy organization RetSpan and was a company with a history of employing deceptive anti-piracy tactics on P2P networks.[12] SARL means Société à responsabilité limitée, the French equivalent of a Limited Liability Company (LLC).
When confronted by file sharing news site Slyck News, PeerFactor SARL head Richard Rodrigues denied that the company ever engaged in deceptive tactics on P2P networks, and Strigeus denied knowing that PeerFactor SARL was headed by the same people formerly running the PeerFactor associated with Retspan. Strigeus also claims that the new PeerFactor SARL application is for legal content distribution but is not connected to µTorrent.[13] It is important, however, to note that Slyck News originally failed to mention the fact that Retspan and PeerFactor had split up 6 months prior to Ludde signing his deal with PeerFactor, and only updated their story after the misinformation had become widespread.
Ludde has stated that his coding for PeerFactor is to use his expertise at optimization and the BitTorrent protocol to create a .dll which PeerFactor intended to use as part of a distribution platform for files in a corporate setting.
The denials, combined with the fact that PeerFactor SARL was once run by some of the same people who participated in anti-P2P activities, and the fact that Strigeus apparently intends to keep µTorrent closed-source, have led to suspicion among some P2P users that neither Strigeus nor PeerFactor SARL can be trusted, and that µTorrent may not protect the privacy of its users. Consequently, µTorrent's domains have been blacklisted within part of the P2P user community.[14] (Ludvig's domains utorrent.com and microtorrent.com, and peerfactor.biz but not peerfactor.fr, all, as of early April 2006, point to the blacklisted IP address 64.202.189.170, which is owned by Go Daddy and is actually used as a forward for nearly 2 million web sites.)
[edit] Purchase by BitTorrent, Inc.
On December 7, 2006, µTorrent was purchased by BitTorrent, Inc., as it was announced on their official forum.[1] µTorrent will continue to have its own website and community for now, and the µTorrent code base will remain closed source. Ludvig Strigeus, the writer of µTorrent will serve as a technical consultant, but BitTorrent Inc will do the majority of the development work.[15]
[edit] Pronunciation
The author of the program has said he pronounces the client's name as "you-torrent," but has also suggested "my-torrent," and "micro-torrent."[16] "Micro" above refers to the fact that the letter µ is also an SI prefix for one millionth as well as the fact that the application has a small size. Another pronunciation is "mu-torrent" since this is the name of the greek letter "µ".
[edit] Easter Eggs
- Clicking the µTorrent logo in the About subsection of Help will play a synthesized sound
- Pressing the T-button on the keyboard when viewing the About subsection of Help will start a game of Tetris
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b µTorrent and BitTorrent Join Forces. µTorrent.com forums (2006-12-07). Retrieved on December 8, 2006.
- ^ AzureusWiki page "Enhanced messaging protocol" on www.azureuswiki.com; accessed September 22, 2006.
- ^ Forum thread "Translation status" on forum.utorrent.com; accessed April 20, 2006.
- ^ Forum threads under "User Interface Design" on forum.utorrent.com; accessed April 24, 2006
- ^ http://forum.utorrent.com/viewforum.php?id=23
- ^ Post by administrator "Firon" in thread "The search bypass nanotorrent.com". forum.utorrent.com.
- ^ Post by administrator "Firon" in thread "again Spyware in uTorrent?". forum.utorrent.com.
- ^ Post by administrator "Firon" in thread "again Spyware in uTorrent?". forum.utorrent.com.
- ^ PeerFactor SARL's website.
- ^ "uTorrent Sign Six Month PeerFactor Agreement" by Michael Ingram, published by Slyck News March 4, 2006.
- ^ "uTorrent Sign Six Month PeerFactor Agreement" thread on Slyck News forums, containing posts by Ludvig "Ludde" Strigeus.
- ^ Archived peerfactor.biz web site as it appeared on May 9, 2004; accessed April 18, 2006.
- ^ "uTorrent, PeerFactor deal" by Alex H., published on P2Pnet on March 13, 2006; accessed April 18, 2006. The article recounts a December 2005 interview with Strigeus about the ramifications of the PeerFactor deal.
- ^ ut.txt, a text file posted in March 2006 by Bluetack Internet Security Solutions forum co-administrator "firstaid" to explain to Bluetack's blocklist users why he blacklisted IP addresses associated with µTorrent and PeerFactor; accessed April 18, 2006.
- ^ BitTorrent Inc Buys uTorrent. Torrentfreak.com. December 07, 2006.
- ^ Post by Ludvig "ludde" Strigeus in thread "µTorrent Namesake" on forum.utorrent.com, the official µTorrent forums; accessed April 18, 2006.
[edit] External links
Reviews
- Best Bittorrent client review by Triponic
- Can great software live in 130 kilobytes? by George Ou
- µTorrent 1.2.2 review by PC Magazine
Articles
- How to increase download speeds of uTorrent
- p2pnet uTorrent interview by Alex H
- p2pnet uTorrent interview 2 by Alex H
- uTorrent Sign Six Month PeerFactor Agreement by Michael Ingram
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| Companies | BitTorrent, Inc. |
| Prominent individuals | Bram Cohen • Ashwin Navin • Ludvig Strigeus |
| Technology | Tracker • Client • Super-seeding • Peer exchange • Broadcatching (BT RSS List) |
| Prominent clients (category) | Official BitTorrent Client • ABC • Azureus • BitComet • BitTornado • KTorrent • Transmission • µTorrent • Halite |
| Prominent sites (category) | LokiTorrent • Suprnova.org • The Pirate Bay • AnimeSuki • Demonoid • Mininova • isoHunt • TorrentSpy • Empornium • UKNova |
