After a pretty long alpha phase, uTorrent 3.0 has finally moved onto the beta stage. In what is possibly the biggest update since the popular torrent client was released, BitTorrent Inc. has tried to make the process of downloading a torrent as simple as possible for novice users, while satisfying the needs of an advanced user.

uTorrent 3.0 features a host of new features. The most significant changes are:

i) Streaming: Unlike standard http files, torrents aren’t downloaded sequentially, which makes it pretty much impossible to start watching a movie while it is being downloaded. However, when streaming mode is enabled, uTorrent will prioritize downloading of chunks towards the beginning of the file to enable the user to view the content as it is being downloaded. This is quite similar to BitComet’s “Preview Download Mode”.

ii) Comments and Ratings: Now, it is possible to rate and comment on torrent files you have downloaded. The idea is that this will help users in avoiding fake and malicious torrents.

iii) uTorrent Remote: uTorrent remote makes it possible to add, delete, and control your downloads from anywhere using the Android app. uTorrent had earlier released an iPhone app too; however, it was banned from the app store by Apple.

iv) Send: With this new feature, you can send a torrent to your friend directly from uTorrent. uTorrent will create a web link for the torrent, and also package the uTorrent client, so that your friend can download the file even if he isn’t familiar with torrents. You can also send files in a similar fashion.

v) Extensions: The new version allows the installation of third-party uTorrent apps, which are nothing but extensions. These apps can do anything from providing access to content like lectures from the Khan Academy, to plotting peers on an interactive map.

uTorrent 3.0 beta boasts of several other improvements including a portable mode, and speed, performance, and stability improvements. You can download the beta from here. However, keep in mind that beta software can be prone to problems. BitTorrent Inc. warns that the 64bit version is a lot more unstable than the 32 bit version.

Transmission, QBittorent and Deluge are the only working torrent clients for Linux with a proper GUI. They have been developed extremely slowly and have failed to become a hot choice for users. Most people end up using Transmission because there is not much of a choice.

However, this is about to change soon. uTorrent developers have announced on their Windows forum that they will release a version for Linux soon that will provide many extra features over Transmission.

However, many users still prefer Transmission and are skeptic about uTorrent as clearly seen in the comments received on this post at  OMG!UBUNTU. However, some uTorrent enthusiasts are already using it on Wine.

Now, uTorrent is the cleanest client on Windows. It has no adware or crapware with it and comes in a small size amounting in a few hundred KBs. Transmission on Linux is the highly acclaimed and lightweight client. They both are close competitors and the developers at uTorrent are well aware of this. Thus, it is expected of them to create an impressive client. No release date has been mentioned yet in any of the discussions.

(Source)

The final build of uTorrent 2.0 may not be out yet, but that hasn’t stopped the developers from beginning work on future builds. They have already released multiple alpha builds of uTorrent 2.1 (codenamed Falcon). Falcon will be a major update for uTorrent and will include both visible and under the hood changes.

The biggest attraction of uTorrent 2.1 is support for video streaming. Video streaming will allow you to begin watching videos without waiting for it to be completely downloaded. In fact if your connection is fast enough, you would be able to instantly begin watching the video. This will be similar to the experience provided by online video services like YouTube.

Simon Morris (VP of Marketing and Product at BitTorrent) commented that, “Our hope is to transform getting media using uTorrent from a ‘load-wait-watch-tomorrow’ to more of a ‘point-click-watch’ experience.”

Although uTorrent didn’t explain how the new feature works, it probably uses a sequential download scheme. In sequential download mode a client gives preference to pieces with lower sequence numbers (rather than giving preference to availability). This can reduce download speed, but allows an audio or video file to be previewed before the download has been completed. Many rival clients like BitComet have had this feature for a long time. For playback uTorrent can use its own online player or your favourite local media player.

Falcon will also introduce a new zero-configuration, secure web UI which will allow you to access uTorrent from other terminals or from your smartphone. The new “Access Anywhere” feature will utilize end to end encryption to enhance security and privacy. Another notable addition is support for DNA – a free content delivery service run by BitTorrent. uTorrent 2.1 also features a refreshed UI with brand new icons. Other features which are currently being worked upon include, optional file security preferences and browser integration. A beta release is expected during the first quarter of 2010. If you are feeling adventurous you can download the alpha build from here.

uTorrent users have an option to control the torrents and downloads through a web interface. However, the interface does not display very well on an iPhone or iPod touch. uTorrent Web UI for iPhone is a freeware application which will give you a familiar look and feel when you manage uTorrent from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

The uTorrent app provides you with a handy dashboard to browse active, downloading and complete torrents along with displaying the torrents by status. You can also stop, start, pause, resume and force start the torrents. If you have finished downloading torrents you can remove the torrents using the Web UI for iPhone.

Download uTorrent Web UI for iPhone

The uTorrent speed can be optimized. This will help you do faster downloads while using uTorrent. Follow the simple configurational tweaks below to get your job done.

NB : Prior to doing any configuration changes please note down the values of the entries that you are changing .

1. Open your uTorrent.
2. Now go to Options > Preferrences.
   
3. Now the window that opens, select Connection in the left pane. Now do the settings as shown in the image below.
   
4. Now similarly go to the Bandwidth tab in the left pane. Now put the values as shown below.
   
5. Now in the left pane select the BitTorrent tab & follow the image below.
   
6. Click the Queueing tab in the left pane & do the following changes in the right pane.
   
7. Now in the Scheduler tab uncheck the Enable Scheduler option.
8. Now click Apply and enjoy faster download.

If you have a router

1. Press Windows key + R. Type   cmd & hit enter.
2. Now type ipconfig in the resulting window and press enter.
3. Note down your ip address and your default gateway that shows up there.
4. Now open your default browser & type in the default gateway in the address bar & hit enter. A login panel will open both the fields are generally set to admin by default.
5. Beneath Applications’ fill out one line for every p2p client that is used.
6. You have to use ip address, the correct port range and set either tcp or udp.
7. You can find ports in the actual p2p client’s settings. Those are editable, but be sure to make them same as in the router.
8. Most p2p apps needs tcp & udp both checked, make sure of it from the FAQ..
9. Save your settings.

For applying port forwarding for uTorrent consult Port Forward.

Some configurations that are shown here are applicable for my own personal bandwidth. Check your own bandwidth here.

On the ending note, I must mention that not all the settings will be applicable for you or may be the values will differ a bit. But those settings are the most common & works well with most of the lot, so lets hope it works with you too.

[Windows] µTBackup (uTBackup) is a simple and nifty utility that lets us backup all our uTorrent settings and program configuration files and later import them into another installation. uTBackup also backs up all the torrents that you have loaded into uTorrent and makes the task of backing up super easy.

You will need to backup uTorrent data in case you are shifting all your data to another computer/operating system. And keeping a backup is also recommended at all times just in case something wrong goes with your system and it is not able to restore the data itself. It happened once with me, and I lost all my torrents. Anyhow, uTBackup solves this problem now.

You won’t need to install anything. uTBackup is a simple exe file that works wherever you take it (i.e It’s portable). Once opened, click the Backup uTorrent files’ option. A dialog box will open where you will select the location the backup will be stored. Give the backup file a name and select save. The backup file will be bearing the extension .utb

uTBackup will backup your uTorrent preferences, settings, labels and other configurations. It will also backup all the torrents loaded into the application. Whenever you need to restore the backup, just run the utility, click the Restore option and select the backup file. Your data will be restored.

Note: Make sure that uTorrent is closed completely when backing up or restoring data.

If you don’t want use another utility to backup data, you can also do this all by yourself without using any software. The folder that uTBackup backs up is located at %APPDATA%\uTorrent that becomes

Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\uTorrent

Windows Vista: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\uTorrent

You can simply copy these folders, archive them into a zip file and store them somewhere else. That’d create your entire backup and you can restore it simply by pasting the folder back. (The application data paths should be as mentioned above, unless you changed them while installing uTorrent.)

As FileShareFreak mentions, uTBackup isn’t officially supported for Windows XP, but it runs alright. I tested it on XP and it works great. Although, to make it run on XP, you’d need Windows Installer 3.1 and .Net Framework 3.5 installed. You probably have them, if not, install them from the linked pages.

Also worth noting is that uTBackup DOES NOT backup the downloaded data of the torrents, it only backs up the meta torrent files (the .torrent files)

Download uTBackup [via]

uTorrent the popular BitTorrent client for downloading and managing torrents has released uTorrent 2.0 Beta 16081 which adds several functionalities to this already popular client.

One of the most interesting features in this release is the addition of UDP trackers, it is well know that UDP based trackers are more efficient than HTTP based trackers and the addition of support for UDP tracker will definitely cheer up uTorrent users.

Also Read: How to Speedup Torrent Download Speeds

New Features in uTorrent 2.0 Beta 16081

• We’ve added UDP tracker support!
• uTP has been improved significantly over the previous alpha, with many bugs fixed and performance improvements. It’s no longer hidden in Advanced settings.
• The setup dialog has been overhauled to make it much easier to use and with a built-in speed test. It’s still not quite complete yet, but this will give you a good taste of what we’re up to with it!
• Transfer caps are now configurable, with usage tracking and graphs.

You can download uTorrent Beta 2.0 by visiting this forum announcement post, it also includes information about the latest changes available in this version.

Please note, this software is in Beta, only install it if you are ready to test it out, it is not yet ready for production use and may have several bugs.

[via]

Torrents are gaining lots of popularity as a medium of sharing files over the P2P network, many of you may have already downloaded several torrent files, but what if you want to create and share your wedding video as a torrent among several of your friends.

Here is a simple tutorial that will show you how to create torrent files, you will need a BitTorrent client to create a torrent file. In this tutorial we will be using the popular client uTorrent, most of the other BitTorrent clients will have the same or similar steps to create a torrent.

Step 1 Create New Torrent: Open uTorrent and select the option to create a new torrent.

Step 2 Select Files or Directories: In the new window that opens up, select the file or folder you want to share with your family or friends. You can also skip certain files within a directory.

Step 3 Adding a Tracker: A Bit Torrent tracker centrally coordinates the P2P transfer of files among users. A torrent without a tracker server is useless, so you will need to find and use a tracker server. You can use any of the following free trackers to share your files.

http://open.tracker.thepiratebay.org/announce
http://www.torrent-downloads.to:2710/announce
http://www.sumotracker.com/announce

Step 4 Start seeding the torrent: Before any of your family or friends can download the data, it needs to be shared. Under the other options, select start seeding and click the create and save as button to create the torrent.

Step 5 Share it with family and friends: Once you have created the torrent file, you can email it to your friends and family who can then download the content to their PC and continue sharing it with others.

You can also upload the torrent to a public server, but only do that if you want to share the files with general public.