Vuze (Azureus 4.2)

Last week I decided it was time to upgrade myself from the lousy BitTransmission, light-weight client, to something considerably heavier (and better) as I was to find out.

My first reaction was to see if Mu-torrent had a Linux version, so that I could continue my pirate activities using the same ship I had used on Windows. Since it didn't I realized I'd have to use Wine, which would be too slow, my system being 4 years old. Well, I use Ubuntu but still like to be pampered a bit - sadly my computer isn't one to indulge me.

So I went about hunting, and found Vuze or Azureus 4 (as it will be better known for many years to come). Linux applications are slowly moving to the Windows way, with easy-to-install .deb files for my Ubuntu. But I could not find a .deb for Vuze - and instead did custom install with a tarball instead. Its always nice to have a tutorial, isn't it?

It looks good, and controlling the up and down loading rates is easy. Q-ing torrents in a proper order isn't as easy as in Mu-torrent, or maybe I just feel that way because of my slow computer. After a few hours of use with Firefox on the side, the computer hangs for a bit - which was never an issue with BitTransmission.

Except for the problem that Vuze isn't exactly a butterfly (it really slows me down) the features are impressive. I am, of course not in a position to rate the HDtv options thanks to my modest 256kbps connection.

All in all, from a lay-user PoV the Vuze is not too different from the other torrent clients. Its still a bit of a way away from being as good as Mu-torrent. I have to try out Deluge and a host of others before being a good judge.

Though my rating will be un-informed and irrelevant to anyone who doesn't "enjoy" my circumstances, I give it a humble 5/10. I'll use it for a while now that I've started.