The original icon
(or
uTorrent and commonly abbreviated as "
µT" or "
uT", pronounced "micro torrent") is a
freeware,
closed source BitTorrent client by
BitTorrent, Inc. It is available for
Microsoft Windows and
Mac OS X. Both versions are written in
C++. It gets the "
µ" in its name from the
SI prefix "
micro" meaning one one-millionth and it refers to the program's small
footprint. The program is designed to use minimal computer resources while offering functionality comparable to larger BitTorrent clients such as
Vuze or
BitComet.
The program has received consistently good reviews for its feature set, performance, stability, and support for older hardware and versions of Windows. A report showed that µTorrent is the most used
BitTorrent client and the second most popular
P2P application.
BitTorrent, Inc. claims that there are at least 28 million unique users using µTorrent per month.
The program has been in active development since its first release in 2005. Although originally developed by
Ludvig Strigeus, since December 7, 2006 the code is owned and maintained by
BitTorrent, Inc. The code has also been employed by BitTorrent, Inc. as the basis for version 6.0 of the
BitTorrent client, a re-branded version of µTorrent.
Features
Early development
Out of general discontent with
bloatware, Serge Paquet suggested to
Ludvig Strigeus that he should make a small and 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 last quarter of 2004 (the first build is dated October 17, 2004), mostly during his free time before and after work, Strigeus ceased coding µTorrent for a year. He resumed work on September 15, 2005, and three days later, the first public release (version 1.1 beta) was made available as
freeware, and began generating feedback.
Advertisements
In early versions, Strigeus had built in a web redirection via nanotorrent 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.
A later 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. A frame at the top displays advertisements (server-side) in the browser when the search function is used. In version 1.5, no ads are present in the program itself.
As of build 463, a redirect bypass feature became available in the Advanced options.
PeerFactor SARL
On March 4, 2006, PeerFactor SARL announced the signing of a six-month contract with Strigeus for the development of "new content distribution applications on the Web." PeerFactor SARL is a relatively new company formed by former employees of PeerFactor, which was a subsidiary of the French anti-piracy organization
Retspan.
Ludde stated that his coding for PeerFactor SARL was to use his expertise at optimization of the BitTorrent
protocol to create a
.dll which PeerFactor SARL intended to use as part of a distribution platform for files in a corporate setting. At the time there was some speculation that μTorrent may have been modified to spy on users on Peerfactor's behalf , however to date (even following μTorrent's acquisition by
BitTorrent, Inc.) no evidence has been produced to support these allegations.
Ownership change
On December 7, 2006, µTorrent was purchased by
BitTorrent, Inc., as it was announced on their official forum.
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.
On September 18, 2007,
BitTorrent 6.0 was released, which is a re-branded version of µTorrent. As a result, BitTorrent 6 is closed-source (unlike BitTorrent 5.x and before, which were
open source software) and is currently only available for Windows.
Mac version
Screenshot of the Mac OS X version of μTorrent
The icon for the Mac OS X version
A separate version of µTorrent for
Mac OS X 10.5 (commonly abbreviated as "
µMac") has been in development for years. As of November 27, 2008 a beta version (Intel x86 and PPC) is available for download on a separate section of the website.
Ask.com toolbar
As of version 1.8.2, the µTorrent installer gives the user the option to download and install the
Ask.com toolbar. This is done on the first run of the program and the user may explicitly opt-out of this feature by deselecting it. The developers stated the addition was needed for funds to continue development.
Release history
Pronunciation
"You" (
u) or "Micro" (
μ)
The author of µTorrent wrote in 2005, "I usually say 'you torrent' because it looks like a u", and offered "microtorrent", "mytorrent" (as "my" [myː] is the Swedish pronunciation of the greek letter µ) and later "mutorrent" as candidate pronunciations. The symbol μ, which is actually the small
Greek letter
Mu, stands for the
SI prefix "
micro" meaning one one-millionth and refers to the program's small footprint.
Easter eggs
- If you open the About screen ("Help" > "About µTorrent") and then press the "T" key, it will start a built-in tetris game called µTris.
- Clicking the µTorrent logo in the About screen will play a synthesized sound similar to Deep Note.
Contributors
Original development was performed by
Ludvig Strigeus ("ludde", from
Sweden), the creator of µTorrent. Serge Paquet ("vurlix", from
Canada) acted as release coordinator, and had intended to work on Linux and Mac OS X ports. He maintained the µTorrent website and forum up until the end of 2005, but is no longer affiliated with µTorrent.
Development after the purchase by BitTorrent is performed by developers Greg Hazel ("alus"), Arvid Norberg ("arvid", author of
libtorrent), Jan Brittenson ("CodeRed"), Richard Choi ("rchoi") and Ryan Norton ("RyanNorton") at BitTorrent Inc. Strigeus remains as a technical consultant.
Other tasks continue to be performed by ongoing contributors. Giancarlo Martínez ("Firon", from
Puerto Rico) maintains the µTorrent forums and FAQ. Carsten Niebuhr ("Directrix", from
Germany) developed and maintains the µTorrent Web User Interface. Timothy Su ("ignorantcow", from
Malaysia) is the designer of the current website.
Features
Features present in µTorrent include:
- µTorrent can use as little as 14 MB of RAM running on a 486 processor on Windows 95.
- * libtorrent and clients based on it like Deluge have full µTorrent PEX support.
- * Transmission and clients based on libTransmission have full µTorrent PEX support.
- * KTorrent has full µTorrent PEX support as of 2.1 RC1.
- * Vuze, formerly Azureus, has full support as of version 3.0.4.3
- User configurable intelligent disk caching system.
- Configuration settings and temporary files are stored in a single directory, allowing portable use.
- WebUI - A plugin currently in beta testing that allows µTorrent running on one computer to be controlled from another computer, either across the internet or on a LAN, using a Web page.
- Embedded Tracker - a simple tracker designed for seeding torrents, lacking a web interface or list of hosted torrents. It is not designed for secure or large-scale application.
- Quick-resumes interrupted transfers
Size
µTorrent is shipped as a single stand-alone
compressed executable file, and does not require installation through an
installer, which is available for trivial installation. Recent versions have included the ability to install themselves on first run. Small executable size is 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 then compressed to roughly half of its compiled and linked size using
UPX.
Reception
μTorrent is praised for its small size and the minimal computer resources it uses which sets it apart from other clients.
PC Magazine gave the program a positive review saying that it "packs an outstanding array of features". and was also listed in their
Best free 157 software tools. It was also in
PC World Magazine's
101 Fantastic freebies. The
Manila Standard Today said it is the "hands-down best utility for downloading large files in Windows". The website
TorrentFreak.com said it was the most feature rich BitTorrent client available.
About.com said it was the best BitTorrent client available citing its small size and minimal impact to the rest of your computer's speed.
Wired.com said its "memory footprint is also ridiculously small". The PC Authority magazine gave it a 6 out of 6 stars.
Lifehacker.com has continued to rate it the best Bittorrent client available.
.com gave it a 5 out of 5 stars saying it features "
Light and quick downloading". It was mentioned in the
Sakaal Times.
