drgrudge Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 (edited) Opera's BitTorrent "client" Opera does not provide or create torrent files (except its own Web browser), but provides support for the BitTorrent protocol for downloading files, in the same way that Opera supports FTP and HTTP. So this cant be actually be called as a client full featured torrent like Azureus , BitComet or BitTornado. This is an inovative feature and I like it, even though I dont like opera as an browser :p First of all I got this working on Opera 8.10 preview 2. Downloaded this file. It's a 3.65mb file. This is just 0.05mb more than the Opera 8.10 (which dont have torrent file associations). Then I installed it and did the other formalities (including removing the Ads :devil: ) How it works in Opera: There are a few minor differences from normal downloading but they are so seamless that it wouldn't ever bother you. This is what happens when you click a torrent file from any website... 1. Once the torrent has been downloaded after you click on it (or File->Open it), Opera will warn you that you may be uploading the data to other users while you download - you can tell Opera to never warn you again so you'll likely only see this step one time. 2. Opera switches to the "Transfers" tab (or puts the transfers tab in the background, depending on how you have Opera configured) and shows a single progress bar for all of the files included in the torrent. 3. It shows inside of the progress bar "Checking File: [0-100]%" and when that reaches 100% it begins downloading the file like it were any other file. 4. Now we can see the time in which the file can get over.. this was very good in the torrent client that I used (BitTornado), it actually calculates the gross or assumed time in which the file amy get over. Now this calculates as and when the transfer speed varies.This is shown in more than one place (highlighted in blue :p) After the download is complete we get a small info box indicating that the download is over (the same one when we download any other normal file) Opera shows the properties dialog box, where we can change the options in associating any torrent file. Speeds: Speed at which our torrent Client downloads the file is a important factor of most of us. We all choose the clients based on this , even though the speeds are dependent on a hell lot of factors. The speed at which we download is also shown. Left hand side is the download speed and the right hand side is the upload speed. It took almost 7-9 minutes to attain my full BW ( I have a 256kbps line and the Upload is limited to a max of 7-8kBps only). This is ok, as in any client it will take some time (depending on the health of the torrent) to attain the full BW. I was surprised to see my upload speed go some much and I have never seen my upload speed more than 7-8kBps (as my ISP limits them). All in all the speed factor need not be worried as opera takes care of this very well and downloaded the file as my torrent client would do. Advantages over other clients: Just adds very little to the CPU usage (about 500kb or so only). We can compare to other clients which use high CPU usage and take about 40mb RAM ( I have only 128mb RAM only). Azureus (which uses JAVA) takes a high amount of RAM and is resource hungry. This one is a boon of users who have a old and slow PC. It is very light-weight, simple, and straight forward. Definetely easy to use than any other client. In fact, it's possible that after you disable the warning dialog that you won't even know you're downloading from torrent files anymore!! Opera with BitTorrent makes downloading easier; we can browse and download torrent files in the same application (no need for a separate client/application) and thereby resulting in less CPU usage. We can download more than one torrent file at a time. This feature is absent in some clients like BitTornado. It seems you can change the port number through the opera6.ini file. But I dint try this thing. Disadvantages/Limitations : Definetely has less features than other torrent clients. Like banning any IP, limiting the BW, etc. Just see the options/Property menu of the regular clients and this one... The most important feature, Limiting the BW (Upload mostly :p) is absent, leechers will find it difficult. :p Dont shows the logs of stats of the torrent like the sparm speed, total seeders and leechers, etc. This is what opera says:* Fixed a problem connecting to some trackers.But some torrents gave me this error, I dont know what kind of error it is. Maybe some trackers want our IP's be registered before we can go ahead and be connected to the tracker. One more limitation is that; till now I have not figured as to how to open a .torrent file and associate with opera and make it work/resume again. :not: On the other Opera is not free (and so is this torrent thing) whereas other clients are completly free (AFAIK). It dont identify itself as Opera's "client" when we see in other's client. I just check the same. This is like Opera identifing as IE, when we visit any webpages :p But this is not a limitation, but still a minor "bug" which they can fix in the next version. As of now I found these limitations, but as and when I start using, will update this list :D Final word: Opera's BitTorrent client is very good on the whole and efficient as well. It does what it need to do with any hassles or effort. First time torrent users will find this very easy as it's similar as downlaod any other file off the web. However there are some important feature that we might miss and also shows errors with certain trackers. Also there is some issues with Trackers which is private and want user's IP to be registered and verified before going ahead to download. Other than that, it's light and uses less CPU and RAM which is ideal for people who have a old and a slow PC. Also it's nil-hassles , not need for any patch or any extra plugin to get going. In a way it's good as first time users will find easier and wont have a "Complex" interface like Azureus/BitComet. It's not a freeware (it's an adware),whereas all other clients are Totally free. Well the bottomline is that we cant compare this with other torrent clients but in case you just want to complete the download without any hitches ,then this is the browser to use. I would rate 7.5 out of 10 Go ahead download this program (in case you dont use Opera) and check this out :D Resources: Download 8.10 preview 2 Opera's BitTorrent Resource Page Can Firefox be behind? About the MozTorrent Project: The goal of the MozTorrent Project is to create a powerful but simple interface to BitTorrent downloads. To meet this goal are producing two products depending upon a users needs: MozTorrent Plugin & Watermonkey. Watermonkey will be a stand alone application (similar to Firefox and Thunderbird) for handling torrents. More info: http://moztorrent.mozdev.org/ Note:Plz correct me wherever I may have made aby mistakes, also your opinions :p My other Software reviews here: Picasa 2 Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting Edited August 15, 2005 by Chad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiagosilva29 Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 (edited) Good review. You sould also test it with the BitTorrent client. Edited August 15, 2005 by Chad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icecaveman Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 you mesure CPU usage in MB? WTF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krpano Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 (edited) On topic now. Nice review....ill upgrade my opera soon and try it out. Edited August 15, 2005 by Chad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ujjwal Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 Nice review :) I was wondering what the torrent client would be like, thanks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 Original post and all replies have been cleaned. Please don't post torrent sites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seba Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 You can access a lot of config option typing opera:config in the URL field. In the BitTorrent part you can limit your bandwith for uploads and downloads separately. Set the listening Port, and a few more things. I don't know why you say you had to remove the ads, Opera has been ads-free for months now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+general chaos Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 that sux. I need to be able to limit my upload (I only get 1GB a day, so I need to not share over that or I lose my connection for 24 hrs) O well... BitTornado will keep workong fine I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagwire Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 I just DLED Opera 9 BETA 2 (i believe that is what it was) and I don't know how to disable the built in bittorent client. It's a PITA to have to save every torrent and then manually open it with bitcomet :(. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribbles Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 opera:config BitTorrent Uncheck Enable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovell Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 I don't know why you say you had to remove the ads, Opera has been ads-free for months now. Well the original post was made in August :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Suraci Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 An updated review would sure be nice, for the Opera 9 preview. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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