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2010-10-28 10:48:42
Chloe Albanesius - PC Magazine Chloe Albanesius - Pc Magazine Wed Oct 27,
12:49 pm ET
The legal battles plaguing the LimeWire P2P service finally took their toll
Tuesday when Lime Wire announced that it has blocked the LimeWire service from
the Gnutella peer-to-peer network.
Lime Wire was orderd by the court to disable the searching, downloading,
uploading, file trading and/or file distribution functionality, and/or all
functionality of LimeWire's P2P file-sharing software. Visitors to the site are
now met with a legal notice that notifies them of the shutdown.
The move has left many users in search of an alternative to LimeWire. What
other P2P sites are available? While there are countless options available, we
polled the PCMag staff and put together a list of several alternatives for
BitTorrent, Gnutella, and beyond. All of these services should be used for
legal downloads, of course; PCMag does not condone the download of copyrighted
or illegal material. With that in mind, here are few sites that might help with
the LimeWire withdrawal.
FrostWire
Ever since Lime Wire made its Tuesday announcement, the name FrostWire has been
floating around the Web as a viable alternative. FrostWire, which touts itself
as "open source and completely free," is a P2P file-sharing program for
BitTorrent and Gnutella. It dates back to 2004, and version 4.21.1 is available
now for download on frostwire.com. The interface looks a lot like LimeWire; a
YouTube user posted an instructional video detailing how to get set up. On
Tuesday, the company also released an Android app for $4.99, though based on a
PCMag hands on with the app, it leaves a little something to be desired.
Vuze
Vuze, formerly known as Azureus, bills itself as the "most powerful BitTorrent
app on earth." Earlier this month, it rolled out support for the new Apple TV,
BlackBerry devices, and a wider range of Android devices in addition to
existing support for various game consoles, TiVo, and Samsung TVs. A paid
option, Vuze Plus, offers unlimited DVD burns and built-in antivirus for $24.99
per year. Version 4.5 is available for download now. PCMag reviewed version 4.2
about a year ago, and found it to be good choice for novices that may not want
to learn file-sharing-related terminology before getting started.
uTorrent
uTorrent is a small BitTorrent client that bills itself as "a powerhouse with a
tiny appetite"; the latest Windows version is just 320KB. PCMag reviewed
version 1.8.4 in October 2009 and found it to be a basic, effective client.
Since then, uTorrent has added an alpha Linux download and a stable version for
Mac. Last month, uTorrent also unveiled a the Featured Artist program, which
offers musicians and filmmakers the ability to submit their work for
consideration in special promotions.
Shareaza
Shareaza is a P2P client for Windows available for download at
shareaza.sourceforge.net. You can upload/download from EDonkey2000, Gnutella,
BitTorrent, and Gnutella2, Shareaza said. As PCMag outlined two years ago, it's
not the same as Shareaza.com, a copycat site that tries to trick you into
downloading software you don't want. The real Shareaza released version 2.5.3.0
in June 2010, while Shareaza.com is currently promoting version 7. PCMag hasn't
reviewed Shareaza since 2004, but at the time it earned a 4 out of 5 rating.
Ares
Ares is another sourceforge.net file-sharing site. An updated version - Ares
2.1.7 - was just released on Wednesday, which supports the BitTorrent protocol
and Shoutcast radio stations via the built-in audio/video player, Ares said.
RapidShare
RapidShare is not a P2P site, but it lets you upload files and then send a
download link to people with whom you want to share the file. Users of the free
service can upload files up to 500MB, though there is a 15-minute wait time
between downloads. A RapidPro service, which runs about $8 per month, will give
you 50GB of storage, 2GB uploads, and no wait times. The only drawback to
RapidShare is that you can't search directly for files stored on the service,
though numerous RapidShare search sites are in existence.