ΜTorrent

From Open Encyclopedia

{{{logo}}} µTorrent
Image:Utorrent 406.png Screenshot of µTorrent
Maintainer:	Ludvig "ludde" Strigeus
Stable release:	PAGENAME}}}\|action=edit&preload=Template:LSR/syntax}}" class='external text' title="http://openencyclopedia.net{{localurl:Template:Latest stable release/{{{name\|PAGENAME}}}\|action=edit&preload=Template:LSR/syntax}}" rel="nofollow">+/-]
Preview release:	PAGENAME}}}\|action=edit&preload=Template:LPR/syntax}}" class='external text' title="http://openencyclopedia.net{{localurl:Template:Latest preview release/{{{name\|PAGENAME}}}\|action=edit&preload=Template:LPR/syntax}}" rel="nofollow">+/-]
OS:	Microsoft Windows
Genre:	BitTorrent client
License:	Proprietary
Website:	www.utorrent.com

The correct title of this article is {{{title}}}}. The initial letter is capitalized due to technical restrictions.}}

µTorrent (pronounced as 'micro-torrent', 'you-torrent' or 'mu-torrent' [1]) is a BitTorrent client for Microsoft Windows. The entire program is included in a single 130 KiB (as of January 2006) executable. It was designed to use as little of the computer's resources as possible while offering a lot of the functionality expected from 'full-featured' clients, such as Azureus and BitComet. The title is frequently abbreviated as µT or uT (due to the fact that one must use the Alt key to type 'µ' using the US keyboard layout). µTorrent is written in [[C++]]. It is freeware, but not open source.

1 Features
- 1.1 Upcoming features
2 Size
3 Developers
4 History
5 Trivia
6 See also
7 External links
- 7.1 Official links
- 7.2 Reviews

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Features

µTorrent implements many of the features introduced by much larger clients such as Azureus, BitComet and BitTornado, while retaining a very small footprint. The program's typical memory usage is less than 6 MB, and the CPU use is low enough for most older systems (as low as 486) to run it. It also retains support for Windows 95/98/ME in a single executable without the need for the Microsoft Layer for Unicode.

Some of the more notable features present in µTorrent include:

Unicode support
UPnP support (Windows XP only)
Super-seeding
Protocol encryption (PE)
Peer exchange (PEX)
RSS Broadcatching
"Trackerless" BitTorrent support, using DHT compatible with the original BitTorrent client and BitComet
Configurable bandwidth scheduler
Customizable search bar and icons
Localized to different languages, the program can also be localized by any end user through modification of a text file

Image:Utorrent-web-screenshot.png

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Upcoming features

Web interface (currently in alpha) [2]
RSS 1.0 and 2.0 [3]
Azureus compatible DHT [4]
HTTPS and UDP trackers [5]
Magnet links [6]
Linux and Mac version [7]

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Size

Operating as a single executable of 139 KiB (with no installation required), μTorrent is an extremely compact BitTorrent client. This small size was achieved by avoiding the use of many heavy libraries (notably, the C++ standard library and stream facilities) and creating substitutes written especially for the program. The executable is also compressed to roughly half the original size using PECompact2.

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Developers

ludde (Ludvig Strigeus) is the developer of µTorrent.

vurlix (Serge Paquet, Canadian) previously coordinated releases and maintained the µTorrent website and forum. He has since moved on to focus on his own projects.

Firon (Giancarlo Martínez) maintains the µTorrent forums and FAQ.

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History

Tired of using bloatware, vurlix suggested to ludde to make a small, yet still powerful, BitTorrent client. ludde originally did not intend to make a feature-rich client, but he worked on it for a month or two during the autumn of 2004 (the first build of the client is dated 17th October 2004) before taking a break from it for around a year. Work on the client resumed on 15th September 2005, with the first public release (version 1.1 BETA) being made available on 18th September 2005.

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