General Info
This client is no longer in development.
Remember
suprnova.org? If you have used BT in 2004 or previously you surely heard about them, and most likely used the site. The majority of the files torrent files (at least the major ones) that existed got posted at suprnova.org at some point. It didn't matter if it was shareware, linux, movies, tv shows, applications, games, or whatever - suprnova seemed to have it all.
It did have problems though. With all the traffic it was hard to keep enough mirrors online 24/7. And the MPAA and others took notice, and declared war on BT in December of 2004. About that time suprnova.org closed their doors for torrent files. But they already had a team of people working on what they hope is the next big thing in p2p. That group is now part of Swarm Systems Inc.
The basic idea is this: Take BitTorrent and combine it with KaZaa (or edonkey or napster or whatever), and with any luck you will get the best of both worlds in a program calledeXeem. BT offered new files to be available faster than most other networks. The other programs offer user friendly gui's, and built in search functions. Lets look at eXeem from the angle of using KaZaa style ideas to improve BT.
Remember
suprnova.org? If you have used BT in 2004 or previously you surely heard about them, and most likely used the site. The majority of the files torrent files (at least the major ones) that existed got posted at suprnova.org at some point. It didn't matter if it was shareware, linux, movies, tv shows, applications, games, or whatever - suprnova seemed to have it all.It did have problems though. With all the traffic it was hard to keep enough mirrors online 24/7. And the MPAA and others took notice, and declared war on BT in December of 2004. About that time suprnova.org closed their doors for torrent files. But they already had a team of people working on what they hope is the next big thing in p2p. That group is now part of Swarm Systems Inc.
The basic idea is this: Take BitTorrent and combine it with KaZaa (or edonkey or napster or whatever), and with any luck you will get the best of both worlds in a program called
eXeem. BT offered new files to be available faster than most other networks. The other programs offer user friendly gui's, and built in search functions. Lets look at eXeem from the angle of using KaZaa style ideas to improve BT.The Good
All along there are a few potential problems with BT. One is no integrated search feature, which is where eXeem takes its most obvious idea from the KaZaa style programs. BT also confuses n00b's at first. Some of them think that a torrent file is what they are trying to download. They don't realize that it is a file used by the program to get the file(s) they actually want. [sarcasm] Its a major breakthrough in video compression! An hour tv show now downloads in 2 seconds and is 15KB! [/sarcasm] eXeem hides some of the torrent files and such behind the gui when you use the integrated search.
Another BT issue is in the nature of trackers (trackers are a server of sorts that lets BT uses connect to others with the same file). There are lots of trackers so its not fully centralized like napster. However, each torrent file is tied to a limited number of trackers (used to be only one, now backups can be used). So if the popular trackers go offline lots of people will be stuck with useless files and will not be able to share.
eXeem replaces these trackers with nodes, or individual users randomly selected to play "traffic cop" with data for a few other users. Also along these lines torrent files may be posted on sites independent of trackers (e.g. suprnova.org). But if that site goes down people won't be able to find files as easily. This need is also eliminated by eXeem's search function.
Another BT issue is in the nature of trackers (trackers are a server of sorts that lets BT uses connect to others with the same file). There are lots of trackers so its not fully centralized like napster. However, each torrent file is tied to a limited number of trackers (used to be only one, now backups can be used). So if the popular trackers go offline lots of people will be stuck with useless files and will not be able to share.
eXeem replaces these trackers with nodes, or individual users randomly selected to play "traffic cop" with data for a few other users. Also along these lines torrent files may be posted on sites independent of trackers (e.g. suprnova.org). But if that site goes down people won't be able to find files as easily. This need is also eliminated by eXeem's search function.
The Bad
This all sounds great in theory. But it still has some issues as well. Right now its still in the beta stage. This means it may still have many bugs, have features that need improving, and similar things. That is what beta means - its close to a full program but needs some additional testing and improvement before a final version is released.
At this stage for eXeem, this means the amount of files available is still going to be somewhat limited until more people begin using it. The beta just went public January 21, 2005, so lots of new users may start testing it out. I had access to the private beta program for the last month or two before it went public, but didn't use it for very much. This was partially because of the lack of files, and partially because I am satisfied with BT right now.
eXeem is still supposedly spyware free like BT. But this was at least partially developed by the suprnova team, who used ads to support their server costs. So at you may expect, eXeem needs some support and does so with ads. Yes, eXeem does contain adware. Warning: Parts of some versions of eXeem have contained Cydoor, which can displays ads whenever it wants, including when you are not using the program. While the current version may or may not contain cydoor, it will have some adware, so I suggest you think carefully before installing.
eXeem has a ratings system and comments for files. This can be good to find more info on a file. But one of the major problems with KaZaa style programs lately is there are many fake files out there that are actually anything from viruses to useless data. If the RIAA or whoever wants to release a "fake" mp3 for example, they can vote the rating up just as easily as you can vote it down. Or the other way around works too - they can put lots of negative votes on the "real" versions too. This makes me wonder how useful this feature actually is.
I believe this still suffers from the same problem as BT. Your IP address is openly available to others when sharing a file. This in theory means the MPAA or RIAA or whoever may download the file to verify it is theirs, and log all the IPs it can that download the file. Then they can contact your ISP and sue you. But at the moment, at least in the US, they can not do this. The courts have rulled ISPs do not have to turn over your identity when asked to do so in this manner.
At this stage for eXeem, this means the amount of files available is still going to be somewhat limited until more people begin using it. The beta just went public January 21, 2005, so lots of new users may start testing it out. I had access to the private beta program for the last month or two before it went public, but didn't use it for very much. This was partially because of the lack of files, and partially because I am satisfied with BT right now.
eXeem is still supposedly spyware free like BT. But this was at least partially developed by the suprnova team, who used ads to support their server costs. So at you may expect, eXeem needs some support and does so with ads. Yes, eXeem does contain adware. Warning: Parts of some versions of eXeem have contained Cydoor, which can displays ads whenever it wants, including when you are not using the program. While the current version may or may not contain cydoor, it will have some adware, so I suggest you think carefully before installing.
eXeem has a ratings system and comments for files. This can be good to find more info on a file. But one of the major problems with KaZaa style programs lately is there are many fake files out there that are actually anything from viruses to useless data. If the RIAA or whoever wants to release a "fake" mp3 for example, they can vote the rating up just as easily as you can vote it down. Or the other way around works too - they can put lots of negative votes on the "real" versions too. This makes me wonder how useful this feature actually is.
I believe this still suffers from the same problem as BT. Your IP address is openly available to others when sharing a file. This in theory means the MPAA or RIAA or whoever may download the file to verify it is theirs, and log all the IPs it can that download the file. Then they can contact your ISP and sue you. But at the moment, at least in the US, they can not do this. The courts have rulled ISPs do not have to turn over your identity when asked to do so in this manner.
Summary
Decent idea. Combine easy search and decentralized parts of KaZaa with the speed and torrent support of BitTorrent. Trackers are no longer needed, and its more user friendly for n00b's. But it is also still being tested, and has a relatively small amount of files. And it does contain Cydoor, a adware program that may show ads all day, even if your browser or eXeem are not currently running (cydoor was removed, at least temporarily, in version 0.21).
I jumped onboard BitTorrent near the beginning - must have been the fall of 2002. I thought it was a great idea at the time, and thought it would catch on. BT even exceeded my expectations. With eXeem, I think its a pretty good idea, but I don't have quite the same feeling about it yet. It may take off, but its too early to tell.
I jumped onboard BitTorrent near the beginning - must have been the fall of 2002. I thought it was a great idea at the time, and thought it would catch on. BT even exceeded my expectations. With eXeem, I think its a pretty good idea, but I don't have quite the same feeling about it yet. It may take off, but its too early to tell.
