Aside from being a peer-to-peer file transfer protocol, BitTorrent is also the name of the official software used to connect to the BitTorrent network. BitTorrent hadn’t seen a major update in about two years, but that was before it bought out uTorrent. Now, adopting its new sibling’s interface has completely reinvigorated the original BitTorrent client.

Previously, BT had lacked features that other torrent innovators had spent time testing and investing in. Now, in one fell swoop, BT has access to everything it lacked. You can pick which files in a torrent you want to download, throttle your Internet connection to suit your whims, muck about with the Web UI and, basically, do everything that uTorrent can do.

There’s an RSS tracker and search bar, just like in uTorrent, but there’s where we encounter one key difference. Where uTorrent’s search takes you to the MiniNova torrent site, BitTorrent’s goes to BitTorrent.com, a pay-for-most-content site. There’s also a menu bar item in the BitTorrent client called Get Stuff, with links to Movies, TV, Music, and Games at the BitTorrent content site.

Without a doubt, BitTorrent has taken drastic steps to reverse course and unsink its sinking ship. Although BT still eats more memory than its new sibling, it’s hogging significantly less than before. The install file reflects the new code, shrinking from nearly 6MB for version 5 to less than 1MB for version 6.

BT also comes with a small piece of software called DNA. The BT site calls it protocol for “Delivery Network Acceleration,” but beyond a nebulous description, it’s hard to tell what exactly it does.

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If you’re looking for a good BitTorrent client, try uTorrent. It has what other BitTorrent clients have, such as scheduling, bandwidth management, and Mainline DHT, plus extras like a unique protocol that detects and corrects for heavy traffic. Animated ads for games and other software keep uTorrent free, but the developer warns of counterfeits that charge for the software or subscriptions.

Pros

Easy to set up: The setup wizard can automatically add an exception for uTorrent in Windows Firewall, though you may have to configure uTorrent manually in other firewalls or security apps. We could set uTorrent to start with Windows; handy for scheduling downloads.

Easy to use: A customizable user interface let us display a lot of information and buttons or keep it clean with just the basics. Tabs manage Files, Info, Peers, Ratings, Trackers, and Speed. Help, FAQs, forums, a Web page, and other resources are at hand.

RSS feeds: RSS auto-downloading makes for speedy feed updates.

Cons

Ad-heavy: Ads in freeware don’t bother us (much) but uTorrents are geared toward young adult males, and some of the online services they advertise might not be appropriate for some users.

Copyright issues: It’s illegal to use BitTorrent (or any P2P network or technology) to post or download copyrighted material (music, movies, games) and uTorrent makes that clear with a note in the setup process. Music and video producers often post exclusive tunes and clips in promo bundles, for example.

Bottom Line

Heavy users might need more than uTorrent’s free client offers, but the rest of us will find it more than sufficient, with the usual caveats about P2P sharing.

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uTorrent for Mac is a basic, free, and fast BitTorrent client that makes it easy for you to download torrent files. It’s a bit thin on features, but it’s lightweight and lets you download files hassle-free.

Pros

Fast and reliable: uTorrent for Mac downloads files much more quickly than other peer-to-peer file sharing applications that we have used in the past, such as the now-defunct Limewire, without limiting our ability to use our Internet connection with other applications. It’s a bit stripped down in features compared to other popular clients such as Vuze (Azureus), but if ease of use is all you need, you won’t mind this.

Automated bandwidth adjusting: This application has been programmed to auto-adjust the amount of bandwidth it uses. You can also manually set limits for bandwidth used for uploading and downloading files.

Helpful resources: This program features an intuitive yet basic OS X-style interface, so you won’t have trouble finding your way. However, if you are unfamiliar with the BitTorrent protocol and how torrent files work, don’t distress — the uTorrent Web site offers very helpful guides, including a wonderfully clear and informative video that will help get you started.

Cons

Cannot search torrents: While it will facilitate the sharing and downloading of torrent files, this program doesn’t actually have an integrated search. It does include a search box, which takes you to your Web browser to find the files you want to download.

Beware of malware: While installing uTorrent, we were first prompted to agree to let the application change our default home pages on all our Web browsers and to allow the tracking of our browsing history. After clicking that we disagreed, we were redirected to the actual uTorrent license agreement.

Bottom Line

If you’re looking for a BitTorrent client that offers a quick and easy way to download torrent files, then you’ll definitely love uTorrent for Mac. This program lacks advanced searching capabilities and some features found in other similar programs, but this shouldn’t be a problem for you if you just need a fast and reliable client.

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