Hardcore Azureus User Finally Gives uTorrent a Try

[Drew Wilson]

I've started with the mainline client way back when people react to the term "BitTorrent" with "Bitwhat?" Azureus eventually came out and I dumped mainline for Azureus since I could actually have a good idea of what I was downloading.

After a few years, uTorrent came out and it became all the rage. I dug my e-claws deep into Azureus, flat out refusing to let it go. I even got into a few arguments a few years back over why I keep using Azureus and the standard argument I kept getting was that Azureus uses more resources. My standard counterargument kept going along the lines of, 'So?' which, half the time, won the argument because there were few other arguments to throw out other than that the package was smaller and that there was no real installing required - both of which weren't that great arguments on my end because I have a lot of resources and a lot of space to begin with to use in the first place and I wasn't sitting ther playing Halo of Unreal Tournament all day long - just listening to open source and indie music and reporting on the news (plus, it didn't interfere with my gaming to begin with)

While most of the arguments I got pretty much fell flat on their faces, there was one argument that was almost never used that actually worked - how do you know you won't like it if you won't try it? Well, my better excuse is basically that I have every BitTorrent need wired through Azureus and setting everything up in a client I never used would be a complete pain in the ass (which, to this day, I'd say it would be)

However, after using Azureus for several years, my system finally cratered (as some of you know from another thread) and so my reason against the only successful argument was also cleared out in the process. So, since I was Startin' Fresh (OK, not that great for a reference to my own music) again, I decided that this was probably going to be my only moment to really give uTorrent a try.

(if you are a uTorrent fan, please skip this next paragraph)
I've been using it for a few days and, well, if you say it's the greatest thing ever to happen to p2p, you are greatly over-rating the client *braces for uTorrent fans flames*. Thinking back over the years of these reviews on how amazing uTorrent is, I would say a lot of people, for the most part, over-rated the client and inflated how good the client supposedly is. It's overwhelming popularity doesn't exactly reflect it's positive attributes to well from what I've seen from it so far and if they did, the client would be far less popular. The rumours of a pact between uTorrent and the MPAA probably shoudl have killed the client and ushered in another developer who could probably just about clone the client. I daresay that the popularity of uTorrent is by mostly e-luck more than anything else. In short, it's overrated. Still, I'm in the early stages of giving the client a spin and I will fully give myself a chance to fit myself into the client.

(uTorrent fans can continue reading here)
When I downloaded the client, Vista automatically sets the client inside my downloads directory. Since the client is a program that runs without really installing anything, this makes it difficult to even access the client in the first place. I can either set a shortcut on my desktop or move the program on there, but it's an additional step that's slightly annoying. The portforwarding step wasn't an issue since it's a necessary pain in the ass these days in the advent of these insecure routers.

My next issue is the way it defaulted to the downloads folder (or something similar, it'been an eventful few days) Since I use private sites, this creates a problem with the thousands of directories I will likely get in the first place. I personally would have rather seen it auto-create a directory like some other programs I've used in the past so it dumps everything into one convenient folder instead.

Next up is the user interface. After using Azureus for several years, I feel like I've lost a lot of ways to see what I'm downloading (many, I know, call this a feature, but for me, I'm going, "WTF?") The peers tab will take some getting use to because Azureus allows you to see how the pieces are distributed. For releasers like me posting legal content, knowing the general piece distribution is quite important because it lets me know that if I leave a swarm and shut down momentarily, that there won't be hundreds of peers the next day stuck at 99% because one piece didn't get properly distro'd. So yes, I don't get glazy eyes seeing a 3D rendering of the swarms, there's actually things I use in Azureus that isn't found in uTorrent that means something important to me. Another thing I think wasn't that great was the use of a magic wand for the 'Create a torrent' button. If you use Photoshop or any other similar programs, a magic wand tends to either indicate a smart selection or an advanced feature/option, not something basic and I find that creating torrents is a primary feature (again, just my opinion) Something like a simple sunrise icon, to me, would have made more sense. I'm sure there are other things I would have found more effective in the client.

There's a bunch of things that I find different that makes the jump from Vuze to uTorrent difficult as some things are laid out differently. I personally think Vuze is more user-friendly than uTorrent and since it has more features, is still a superior client even when you factor in a larger memory footprint.

I do easily see uTorrent being easy to use once you get some things straightened out, I'll give it that. Overall, so far, I'm finding uTorrent OK. Not, "OMFG, it's amazing!!!", not, "I hope this thing burns in hell!", but just, "OK".

I haven't gone too deeply into the client yet, but I thought I'd post my unique perspective on the client and see what else I come up with. I know there'll be some interest in something like this, so I figured, why not?

[w31n3r]

meh, i was actually thinking about giving vuze a try. with falling hardware prices, resources should never be a problem.

i think you've missed the point though, utorrent is a no bullshit client that gets the job done with minimum fuss. thats what it's been about all the while. vuze's feature set look amazing though.

[Signa]

I remember I had somewhat the same experience when I dropped Azureus in '06. However, the only thing at that time that Azureus had over utorrent was the create torrent functions. Azureus was using DHT, and I could create a torrent for my friends that were also using azureus and not have to upload it anywhere to get them connected. My overall reaction was like trying Coke Zero the first time. "It's the same with 0 calories!" as utorrent pretty much was azureus with a fraction of the resource costs.

No, Utorrent isn't "Oh Em Eff Gee amazing." It's a bit torrent client. A client program is never going to knock your socks off, though it is pretty cool hearing of people running it on their x486's.

Also, on utorrent, if you want to know if you've seeded 100% to your peers on your torrent, look for a 0(2) or better seeder count (one is you). That's all it takes.

[thelastfreeman]

I first migrated to uTorrent after Azureus 2.5.0.4 because they changed it to Vuze and added a bunch of features I didn't need. The larger footprint was not as big of a factor but I hated seeing what appeared to be AZ "selling out". There are definitely some shortcomings like not being able to see the pie slice swarm representation and the biggest annoyance is I can't move files to new folders without manually removing the file and reclicking the .torrent. I urge you to use the client that's best for you and not listen to the fanboyism.

[napho]

There's no law that says you can't use both, depending on the circumstances. uTorrent's download folder does seem to jump around, and that install/don't install thing is strange, although it's giving you the option not to install, which many like. Vuze is still resource heavy, and has many plug-ins that most people don't need or want.
It's like with video players; I have 5 or 6, and occasionally the extra ones come in handy for 1 type of file. Hard drives are huge nowadays, it doesn't hurt to fill them. :icon_pira

[Drew Wilson]

Good morning. :)

Yeah, as you probably gathered from my first post, I got to see some of the heaviest fanboyism you could have imagined (I suppose a contributing factor for me not trying it)

There's a possibility that I'll be doing some 3D rendering stuff which will be something that is really heavy resource intensive, so I could use whatever resource I can get if/when I do get to actually rendering some stuff. I don't know how many non-gamers can successfully say that they will be using a huge amount of their resources. I've noticed that, even with this machine, thinks aren't exactly instant when it comes to creating this stuff, lol.

[carpefile]

utorrent is the tinyxp of bittorrent. For it's size and memory footprint it has a remarkably large set of features.
It's a simple client for peeps with basic needs and/or those with antique hardware.
I use it cause it's all I need, but then I've always gone for minimal. I just don't like a lot of bells, whistles and eye candy I have no real use for.

If you have use for some of the quintillion features in vuze, then that's prolly a better client for you.
utorrent is definitely no vuze.
btw I still just use v1.6 (the last build before the sellout drama)

[El Comandante]

I don't use most of the features in Azureus/Vuse and I don't care for bloated software. Although system resources are not a problem, I don't want to hitch a trailer and a boat to a Ferrari if I never use the boat...

I just want to accomplish the basics well. Utorrent does that.

[birdshooter]

utorrent! i used to use azureus and then i finally gave utorrent a try havent used back azureus since.