uTorrent Web

Pros

• A fast media and program downloader
• Downloads and shares computer files
• Allows users to watch in-progress media downloads
• Non techies like the simple interface

Cons

• Lacks advanced torrenting features
• Still labelled a beta utility

Utorrent Web is a small utility that allows Windows users to download digital files. More accurately, it's a web-based Torrent downloader that uses P2P (Peer-to-Peer) distributed networking to share and download all sorts of digital files. Media files and programs are typically shared as torrents. They can be queued by the program and snatched at great speed. Alternatively, perhaps if the BitTorrent utility only has access to a slow broadband connection, the pieces of the files will download slowly. Using the classic version of uTorrent, impatient file seekers are forced to wait until that download finishes. However, by installing uTorrent Web, it's possible to start watching content soon after a download commences.

That's the key takeaway here, the fact that the elegantly designed program also functions as a media player, one that can play a partially downloaded media file. Of course, this feature won't work with compressed (Zip or Rar) files. They can't be watched until they're assembled and decompressed. For uncompressed and unencrypted files, however, uTorrent Web can certainly play them while they're downloading. That's something of a perk for those users who either have a slow internet connection or are simply too impatient to wait for a file's download to finish. Using this feature, a BitTorrent operator can also check out a file and get rid of it when it doesn't satisfy a certain aesthetically established desire. Let's say the sound doesn't sync to the lips of an actor. The file is deleted. Maybe the video is in an entirely different language, even. Again, delete it before the download finishes. Or perhaps the video quality isn't up to snuff, in which case the download is again terminated. That's a great time-saving quality to have in a media downloading program

Sure, the above beneficial feature does save time. Otherwise, there'd be no way to tell whether the file was wrong in some way until it was entirely stored on a computer. But is that really the only benefit here? uTorrent web is also very fast, and it's been streamlined so that it provides a cleaner interface. The classic version looks a little more cluttered, and it lacks media playback capabilities. Next, upon leveraging some of Windows better workflow tricks, this BitTorrent client also incorporates a few time-saving shortcuts. Instead of finding and clicking on a torrent or magnet file to start a download, uTorrent Web allows users to drag and drop those small seed files into the program window. As soon as the icon drops on top of the web interface, the download automatically starts. Basically, BitTorrent clients have been around for well over a decade now, but they're complicated beasts, and they're not exactly easy to master. With this web edition installed, a less tech-savvy audience suddenly gains access to the world of BitTorrenting.

Do remember that the use of a BitTorrent client is quite legal. It's a totally above-board activity as long as the program operator is downloading content that is free to view or install. However, some uTorrent Web installers use the software to download and watch copyrighted material. Movies, TV Shows and music, content that's not part of the public domain should never be downloaded onto a computer. This is content piracy, an activity that cannot be condoned. And remember, uTorrent Web doesn't only download media, it also shares that media as well, so the piracy is online for all to see. Anyway, as long as the program user sticks to non-copyright media, everything should be just fine.

Back to the utility specifications, there aren't as many power features in this version of the program. Those are found in the classic edition. Bandwidth control and torrent scheduling, port management and tracker settings, these are features that are not found in uTorrent Web. That's actually a logical choice, especially when this media-skewed program variant is really intended for less technically inclined computer operators. If a more hands-on approach to torrenting is required, the classic version of uTorrent makes more sense as a primary BitTorrent client. One more thing, this is a new edition, and it's still classed as an in-development utility. It could crash occasionally or behave erratically because it's still a Beta program, still a work in progress. Still, it does function well, perhaps because of that simplified interface. Really, as long as a media lover doesn't require more advanced torrenting features, and most users don't, then uTorrent Web is a perfectly capable piece of media, and program, downloading software.

Pros

• A fast media and program downloader
• Downloads and shares computer files
• Allows users to watch in-progress media downloads
• Non techies like the simple interface

Cons

• Lacks advanced torrenting features
• Still labelled a beta utility