Original author(s) | Bram Cohen |
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Developer(s) | Rainberry, Inc. |
Initial release | July 2, 2001 [1] |
Stable release(s) | |
Operating system | Windows, macOS, Android |
Platform | IA-32, x64, ARM |
Size |
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Available in | 66 languages |
Type | BitTorrent client |
License | Adware |
Website | www |
BitTorrent is a proprietary adware [5] BitTorrent client developed by Bram Cohen and Rainberry, Inc. used for uploading and downloading files via the BitTorrent protocol. BitTorrent was the first client written for the protocol. It is often nicknamed Mainline by developers denoting its official origins. Since version 6.0 the BitTorrent client has been a rebranded version of μTorrent. As a result, it is no longer open source. It is currently available for Microsoft Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android. There are currently two versions of the software, "BitTorrent Classic" which inherits the historical version numbering, and "BitTorrent Web", which uses its own version numbering.
Programmer Bram Cohen designed the protocol in April 2001 and released a first implementation of the BitTorrent client on 2 July 2001. [1] [6] It is now maintained by Cohen's company BitTorrent, Inc.
Prior to version 6.0, BitTorrent was written in Python, and was free software. Very early versions released prior to December 30, 2001, were released into the public domain without a license. Versions up to and including 3.4.2 were distributed under the MIT license. The source code for versions 4.x and 5.x was released under the BitTorrent Open Source License, a modified version of the Jabber Open Source License. Versions 4.0 and 5.3 were relicensed under the GPL.
Version 4.20 of the client was dubbed Allegro by BitTorrent Inc., in reference to protocol extensions developed by the company to accelerate download performance and ISP manageability. [7]
Version 5.30 of the client which is snapshotted at Internet Archive [8] is the latest open source version.
Since version 6.0, which was released on September 18, 2007, the BitTorrent client has been a rebranded version of μTorrent. It is no longer open source.
The BitTorrent client enables a user to search for and download torrent files using a built-in search box ("Search for torrents") in the main window, which opens the BitTorrent torrent search engine page with the search results in the user's default web browser.
The current client includes a range of features, including multiple parallel downloads. BitTorrent has several statistical, tabular and graphical views that allow a user to see what events are happening in the background. A host of views offer information on the peers and seeds to which the user is connected, including how much data is being downloaded from each and to how much data is being uploaded by each. It has an automatic recovery system that checks all data that has been handled after an improper shutdown. It also intermediates peering between itself, source file servers ("trackers") and other clients, thereby yielding distribution efficiencies. The client also enables users to create and share torrent files.
This article needs to be updated.(December 2013) |
Legend: | Old version, not maintained | Current stable version | Latest preview version |
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Versions released into the public domain or under MIT License | ||
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Version | Release date | Changes |
1.0.0 | 2001 July 2 |
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1.0.5 | 2001 July 20 |
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1.0.6 | 2001 July 24 |
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2.0.2 | 2001 August 10 |
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2.1 | 2001 August 23 |
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2.2 | 2001 September 2 |
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2.3.1 | 2001 September 12 |
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2.5 | 2001 October 23 |
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2.6.1 | 2002 January 6 |
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2.6.2 | 2002 March 18 |
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2.7 | 2002 April 29 |
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2.7.1 | 2002 April 30 |
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2.7.2 | 2002 May 6 |
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2.8.0 | 2002 May 31 |
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2.8.1 | 2002 June 5 |
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2.9 | 2002 July 2 |
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2.9.1 | 2002 July 4 |
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2.9.6 | 2002 July 18 |
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3.0.1 | 2002 October 2 |
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3.0.2 | 2002 November 5 |
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3.1 | 2003 January 2 |
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3.2 | 2003 March 28 |
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3.2.1b | 2003 June 5 |
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3.3 | 2003 September 24 |
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3.4 | 2004 March 6 |
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3.4.1 | 2004 March 11 |
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3.4.1a | 2004 March 12 |
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3.4.2 | 2004 May 15 |
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Versions released under BitTorrent Open Source License | ||
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Version | Release date | Changes |
4.0.1 | 2005 April 6 |
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4.1.0 | 2005 May 20 |
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4.1.1 | 2005 May 25 |
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4.0.4 | 2005 August 27 |
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4.1.4 | 2005 August 27 |
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4.1.6 | 2005 October 13 |
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4.1.7 | 2005 November 3 |
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4.1.8 | 2005 November 18 |
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4.2.0 | 2005 November 22 |
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4.2.1 | 2005 December 5 |
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4.3.0 | 2005 December 5 |
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4.3.2 | 2005 December 11 |
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4.2.2 | 2005 December 21 |
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4.3.3 | 2005 December 21 |
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4.3.5 | 2006 January 9 |
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4.3.6 | 2006 January 25 |
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4.4.0 | 2006 February 1 |
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4.9.2 | 2006 May 5 |
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Versions released under a Proprietary License | ||
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Version | Release date | Changes |
6.0.0 | 2007 September 18 |
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7.4.3 | 2019 October 16 |
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"Web" Versions released under a Proprietary License | ||
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Version | Release date | Changes |
1.2.8 | 2022 June 2 |
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Mac OS X Version History [9] | ||||
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Version | Build | Release date | Features/Changes | |
7.1.0 (22093) |
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7.1.1 |
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7.2.0 |
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7.2.1 |
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7.2.2 |
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7.3.1 |
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7.3.2 |
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7.3.3 |
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7.3.5 (27628) | 2012 July 25 | |||
7.4.3 | 2020 May 19 |
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Version | Build | Release date | Features/Changes |
Mac OS X "Web" Version History [10] | ||||
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Version | Build | Release date | Features/Changes | |
N/A |
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Version | Build | Release date | Features/Changes |
BitTorrent DNA (BitTorrent Delivery Network Accelerator) is a program designed to speed up the viewing of streaming video, downloading software (with or without the BitTorrent protocol) and playing online video games. It does so by distributing the end users' downloads between each other. In this way, the developers intend that content providers should take less load on their servers so the end users can receive the content faster. [11] It runs in the background whenever the operating system is running. [12]
BitTorrent DNA is different from traditional BitTorrent in that it relies on publisher HTTP servers in order to provide publishers with guaranteed minimum data delivery rate, as well as give publishers control over content delivery (peers must connect to the origin server before they can reach other peers), and collect information about content delivery to share with the publisher. The quality of the file transfer is specified in terms of a long-term average bitrate for data and in terms of meeting deadlines when streaming. It also can give bandwidth to TCP and other traffic.
DNA is also different from traditional BitTorrent in that it is a UDP-based protocol that has replaced regular TCP-based bandwidth throttling with a much more sensitive bandwidth management technique.
Apart from being installed by third party websites and software companies, the program for end users is also installed when the official BitTorrent client is installed (starting with the rebranded version 6.0). However, it can be independently uninstalled.
The first version of the DNA made it possible to keep the DNA application installed and yet temporarily stopped until the next system restart (through the system's control panel, in Windows XP [12] ). The DNA GUI was completely removed in the official BitTorrent version 6.1 and 6.1.1, but was re-introduced in version 6.1.2.
Since October, 2007 BitTorrent DNA has been offered by BitTorrent, Inc. as a commercial service that content providers can purchase (for an undisclosed price) and as a free background program for end users. [11] Company President Ashwin Navin launched the product claiming that "Implementing BitTorrent DNA on top of legacy infrastructure has the profound impact of allowing our customers to deliver a better user experience, higher quality video, faster software downloads, all with the security and reliability of a managed service." [13]
Navin in a podcast interview claimed that he attempted to sell BitTorrent DNA in January 2005. After finding that BitTorrent's brand was too polarizing for potential customers, they delayed the launch until after partnering with nearly 50 media companies in the BitTorrent Entertainment Network. That provided the company enough public validation to finally launch BitTorrent DNA two and half years later. [14]
The service's first customer was the company Brightcove, that chose to use it to distribute streaming video files. [15] [16]
As of May 2009, the Asus support website is using BitTorrent DNA as an additional download method of their larger files in addition to their multiple somewhat internationally distributed HTTP servers and content delivery mirrors and other redirection facilities Asus has been known to rely in the present and past for their data delivery needs. Currently, a separate "P2P" icon is being presented for the DNA style downloads next to the "Global" and "Chinese" located servers as an example. [17]
Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of nodes.
Helix DNA was a project to produce computer software that can play audio and video media in various formats and aid in creating such media. It is intended as a largely free and open-source digital media framework that runs on numerous operating systems and processors and it was started by RealNetworks, which contributed much of the code. The Helix Community was an open collaborative effort to develop and extend the Helix DNA platform. The Helix Project has been discontinued.
eDonkey2000 was (is) a peer-to-peer file sharing application developed by US company MetaMachine, using the Multisource File Transfer Protocol. It supported both the eDonkey2000 network and the Overnet network.
BitTorrent, also referred to as simply torrent, is a communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet in a decentralized manner. The protocol is developed and maintained by Rainberry, Inc., and was first released in 2001.
BitComet is a cross-protocol BitTorrent, HTTP and FTP client written in C++ for Microsoft Windows and available in 52 different languages. Its first public release was version 0.28. The current BitComet logo has been used since version 0.50.
The eDonkey Network is a decentralized, mostly server-based, peer-to-peer file sharing network created in 2000 by US developers Jed McCaleb and Sam Yagan that is best suited to share big files among users, and to provide long term availability of files. Like most sharing networks, it is decentralized, as there is no central hub for the network; also, files are not stored on a central server but are exchanged directly between users based on the peer-to-peer principle.
A BitTorrent tracker is a special type of server that assists in the communication between peers using the BitTorrent protocol.
Transmission is a BitTorrent client which features a variety of user interfaces on top of a cross-platform back-end. Transmission is free software licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, with parts under the MIT License.
Pando was an application which was mainly aimed at sending files which would normally be too large to send via more "conventional" means. It used both peer-to-peer and client-server architectures and was released for Windows and Mac OS X operating systems.
Free Download Manager is a download manager for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android.
Protocol encryption (PE), message stream encryption (MSE) or protocol header encrypt (PHE) are related features of some peer-to-peer file-sharing clients, including BitTorrent clients. They attempt to enhance privacy and confidentiality. In addition, they attempt to make traffic harder to identify by third parties including internet service providers (ISPs). However, encryption will not protect one from DMCA notices from sharing not legal content, as one is still uploading material and the monitoring firms can merely connect to the swarm.
Rainberry, Inc., formerly known as BitTorrent, Inc., is an American company responsible for μTorrent and BitTorrent Mainline. The company was founded on September 22, 2004 by Bram Cohen and Ashwin Navin. It was successful during the Great Recession under the leadership of CEO Eric Klinker. In 2018, the company was acquired by cryptocurrency startup TRON, and Bram Cohen left the company. In March 2022, the SEC charged Rainberry with fraud for selling cryptocurrencies Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) as unregistered securities.
Tribler is an open source decentralized BitTorrent client which allows anonymous peer-to-peer by default. Tribler is based on the BitTorrent protocol and uses an overlay network for content searching. Due to this overlay network, Tribler does not require an external website or indexing service to discover content. The user interface of Tribler is very basic and focused on ease of use instead of diversity of features. Tribler is available for Linux, Windows, and OS X.
Vuze is a BitTorrent client used to transfer files via the BitTorrent protocol. Vuze is written in Java, and uses the Azureus Engine. In addition to downloading data linked to .torrent files, Azureus allows users to view, publish and share original DVD and HD quality video content. Content is presented through channels and categories containing TV shows, music videos, movies, video games, series and others. Additionally, if users prefer to publish their original content, they may earn money from it.
The following is a general comparison of BitTorrent clients, which are computer programs designed for peer-to-peer file sharing using the BitTorrent protocol.
This is a glossary of jargon related to peer-to-peer file sharing via the BitTorrent protocol.
HTTP Live Streaming is an HTTP-based adaptive bitrate streaming communications protocol developed by Apple Inc. and released in 2009. Support for the protocol is widespread in media players, web browsers, mobile devices, and streaming media servers. As of 2022, an annual video industry survey has consistently found it to be the most popular streaming format.
In the BitTorrent file distribution system, a torrent file or meta-info file is a computer file that contains metadata about files and folders to be distributed, and usually also a list of the network locations of trackers, which are computers that help participants in the system find each other and form efficient distribution groups called swarms. Torrent files are normally named with the extension .torrent
.
μTorrent, or uTorrent, is a proprietary adware BitTorrent client owned and developed by Rainberry, Inc. The "μ" in its name comes from the SI prefix "micro-", referring to the program's small memory footprint: the program was designed to use minimal computer resources while offering functionality comparable to larger BitTorrent clients such as Vuze or BitComet. μTorrent became controversial in 2015 when many users unknowingly accepted a default option during installation which also installed a cryptocurrency miner.
WebTorrent is a peer-to-peer (P2P) streaming torrent client written in JavaScript, from the same author, Feross Aboukhadijeh, of YouTube Instant, and the team at WebTorrent and on GitHub, for use in web browsers, as well as a WebTorrent Desktop stand alone version able to bridge WebTorrent and BitTorrent serverless networks.
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