Bittorrent and Gnutella might be hogging the headlines of the peer to peer (P2P) world, but close behind comes Ares, a successful P2P application that boasts of having its own decentralized network and a simple, quick access interface. Ares spun-off from Gnutella in 2002, and since then has been building a strong and dedicated community of users.

Installing Ares only takes a few minutes and the interface is simple enough that anybody will feel comfortable with it. The new version has a very sleek and dark interface, not unlike that of WMP 11. When you start Ares, it lets you auto scan your PC to find files you might like to share on the network. Beginners will be relieved to know that there is no complex configuration process involved. Once Ares is installed, all you need to do is select the search tab and type the name of the file you want to download. Once it appears, double click on it to begin downloading. You’ll be able to check its progress in the transfer tab. The recent update adds bittorrent support, opening Ares up to loads of new content.

If you enjoy exchanging words with other users, click on the chat tab and connect to one of the thousands of channels available. You can pick up tips on how to use Ares better, ask which files other users recommend or just chit chat about your life in general. You can even insert emoticons into your conversation and keep a list of your favorite chat channels.

Of all the P2P programs, Ares probably features the widest preview screen. You can set it to fit to screen or adjust it to your preference. This is a great way of making sure you’re downloading the right movie or to get a sneak peak at your downloads.

Unlike WinMX or FileNavigator, the two other spin-off Gnutella projects, Ares did not drop into obscurity and unites a flourishing community of users. However, the same old problems usually seem to arise. According to many Ares users the application suffers from constant connectivity troubles making it difficult to properly search for a file or to successfully complete downloads. Others will worry that Ares is a much smaller network than the globally used Gnutella and does not offer quite as much download sources.

Ares is an ambitious project, and the fact that it still remains standing while eDonkey has fallen at the hands of the RIAA, is characteristic of its reliability. Thanks to a strong community of users, a simple interface, a great preview page and multichat service, Ares remains a P2P application of choice for anybody interested into sharing files over the internet.

Download Ares Galaxy 2.0.9 in Softonic

Limewire, one of the world’s most popular peer-to-peer filesharing applications, has received a lawsuit from the RIAA, who are demanding $115 million in damages, claiming the application promotes the infringement of copyright. Similar applications like Grokster and Kazaa have been forced to go legal and there is speculation as to just how long LimeWire will resist until they have to buckle and pay up. The existence of the popular P2P application is not under threat, but if you haven’t given it a try yet, here’s just what makes it a standout program.

In terms of file sharing, LimeWire is the cream of the crop, offering the essential peer-to- peer tools in what is probably the friendliest interface of applications in its class. Beginners will appreciate the search bar, which allows you to select the type of file you’re looking for, video, image, audio, program or file. LimeWire has a “what’s new” button to check out what popular files users have recently exchanged. We also enjoyed the direct connect option. If you know the IP address of one of your friends, type it in the box and LimeWire will browse that user’s files. This is a quick way of sharing files with someone else and can come in handy when working on a project and exchanging documents. The only little snag we have with direct connect is that it doesn’t let you enter the username, much simpler than looking for your friend’s IP address.

Downloading with LimeWire is very intuitive. After you’ve searched and found the file you are looking for, double-click on it to start the downloading process. The speed of your download depends firstly on the quality of your connection (broadband is a minimum), if you’ve correctly opened your router’s ports and whether you’re downloading a popular file or not. We would like to point out the effort that Limewire takes to make itself accessible to beginners. Not only does a tip pop up every time you launch the application, the help option also leads you to LimeWire’s support centre, FAQs and a forum to get in contact with other users.

The lawsuit carried out by the RIAA is all the more surprising because of the measures LimeWire takes to keep you in the realms of legality. If you decide to download LimeWire from its website, you will first have to agree you will not use it for copyright infringement. When you’re configuring the application, you can set content filters, to avoid downloading files that copyright owners do not want you to share. To avoid embarrassing situations, make sure you tick the “block adult content” box, which will filter out any pornographic files from your searches.

The best way of checking the quality of the audio or video you’re downloading is via LimeWire’s mini player. It’s fairly basic and to par with the players you find in similar filesharing applications, but we appreciated the way it was integrated in the application.

If there’s one thing that we’re still expecting from the LimeWire team, it’s that it finally decides to jump on the BitTorrent bandwagon. Torrents are the way forward when it comes to peer to peer file sharing because of the speed, the security and freshness of downloads. Large files like movies or complete seasons of TV series are much easier to download via BitTorrent. We were also annoyed by the “buy the PRO version” window that popped up every time we started LimeWire.

For its wealth of possibilities and huge base of users, (more than 4 million simultaneously on the Gnutella network) we encourage you to give LimeWire a test drive. Because of the controversial nature of the application, you should always make sure that you aren’t using LimeWire for illegal activities like copyright infringement. However don’t be scared off by the legality issue. LimeWire, like most P2P applications is one of the most exciting possibilities that the internet gives us. It would be a shame not to give it a try. You should also check out Frostwire, the not-for-profit project of the LimeWire development team.

Download LimeWire Basic 4.18.8 in Softonic

Shareaza started out life as the legendary Gnutella network but today is one of the most realistic competitors to eMule.

Shareaza is a completely free peer to peer (P2P) file sharing system. The program features Multi-Network Support which basically means it can connect up to 4 separate Peer-to-Peer networks at the same time meaning more hits and faster downloads.

You can download and upload from the EDonkey2000, Gnutella, BitTorrent and Gnutella2 (G2) networks. The latest release features something called "Collections" too. Collections basically group previews of album covers, descriptions, and song lists all in one complete package. It's designed to help you discover similar music to that you already like although in reality, it's not that useful. The interface is very simple to use - very much like eMule. All the search results are displayed clearly including file type, size and estimated download time. You can also choose to filter searches by file type such as picture, video or software.

Shareaza is one of the best P2P networks out there although it still pales in comparison to eMule in terms of results and download speeds.

Download Shareaza 2.4.0 in Softonic

Often the file you like to download is available on several different hosts. Phex will request different segments of the file from each host in parallel. After successfully downloading a segment Phex will merge it with the other segments of that file. This results in a much higher download speed. If a host is too slow the segment is split during download and given to another host. To make sure you never run out of hosts Phex is able to find new download hosts by itself with the automatic search functionality and features the Download Mesh.

You can choose for each download whether the segments should be chosen according to their availability (rarest first, BitTorrent-Style), their place in the file (earlier segments first, useful for previewing the file) or for previewing (the first 10MB according to their place in the file, after that according to their availability).

Phex offers very advanced configuration options. Much more than many other clients can offer. Especially advanced user can configure Phex according to their needs and are able to tune and see the effect of different settings.

With the passive search functionality Phex is able to constantly monitor the traffic that goes through the network and collect search results that match your passive search term. Also Phex snoops the traffic for new download candidates you need to finish your downloads faster. This type of searching is useful for longtime monitoring of available files on the network.

Other features include:

• Multiple searches
• Ultrapeer and compression technology for reduced bandwidth
• Integrated chat
• Browse host support
• Bitzi metadata lookup
• MAGMA support

Download Phex 3.2.6.106 in Softonic

Cabos may not be as famous as Limewire or eMule but it remains a very good peer to peer file sharing client.

In fact, users of Limewire will immediately find the similarities in Cabos' interface. Your network, downloads and uploads are easily accessible from the menu on the left. Elements in these sections will be displayed in a list in the center of the interface. The search box on the top left is the best way to look for content, and given that Cabos makes use of Gnutella, the third biggest peer to peer network, you're guaranteed to find what you're looking for. Thanks to iTunes integration, you can search for tracks or videos stored in Apple's media player directly from Cabos.

The peer to peer client may not have any advanced features and you may not always benefit from ultrafast connection speeds, however it remains a very simple to use P2P application. What worries us though is that the client has not been updated for a while, and could be in need of some improvements.

Cabos is an easy to use P2P client which makes use of the third biggest peer to peer network, Gnutella.

Download Cabos 0.7.9 in Softonic

Morpheus is one of those age old P2P applications and, with support for Gnutella, eDonkey, Bittorrent and many others, probably the most versatile you can find on the market. The new version aims to turn the P2P client into the ultimate multimedia application. Does it succeed?

Morpheus has gone through a complete facelift and the new version brings a newer interface. The window is divided into 4 tabs: search results, my files, podcasts and Morpheus online, giving you an idea of what it considers important. A pane on the left side allows you to create playlists or keep track of searches and videos – although strangely not music. Morpheus lets you also sync all your downloaded files to import them automatically to iTunes. Oddly enough, the chat tool is now hidden at the top of the interface, next to help and preferences.

Morpheus wants to appear as a multifaceted app, not just a simple P2P program. It includes an embedded browser, Morpheus Online, from which you can check-out the internet or find new files to share while you’re downloading. This is particularly useful when you’re looking for new podcasts. By clicking on the podcast page button in the podcasts tab, you will be taken to Morpheus’ own podcast library. While it’s not as star studded as the iTunes library, it’s full of varied and original content. The podcast tab is wisely divided into podcast and episodes, so you can browse through what you’ve downloaded. However we were quite confused by the whole podcast downloading procedure. The progress bar is hidden in the file window of the My Files tab. Why didn’t Morpheus leave this in the podcast section?

Morpheus has also beefed-up its security. You can now select your antivirus application to automatically scan downloaded files. The program also includes solid parental control so you can enter hazardous terms into the block list to avoid your kids searching for violent or pornographic material. You can also add a password to make sure you control who has access to Morpheus. The application also introduces UDP technology to improve the performance of downloads and allow secure file sharing between 2 firewall protected PCs.

This new version comes with many interesting enhancements, but not enough to get us overexcited. Add to that the many drawbacks we found in the application. The interface for example is way too clunky, and it’s safe to say that lies in the two large ads at the top and the bottom of the program (which disappear if you buy the Pro version). The “My Files” tab has an additional file window at the bottom, which adds to the confusion in the interface. The one click burning function is something we were eager to try out but was nowhere to be seen.

However hard Morpheus tries at integrating cool features like web browsing or podcasting, we figure the application should only be used for what it’s good at i.e.P2P downloading. The program gives access to all the P2P networks, even Bittorrent, and the new version introduces safer and quicker transfer thanks to UDP technology. The other extra features in the application like the library structure or web browser felt a bit awkward, and therefore failed at turning the program into a true multimedia application. Let’s hope Morpheus gets it right in the future.

Download Morpheus Basic 5.5.1 in Softonic

Even though eMule is by far our most popular P2P app, BearShare is still going strong and continues to follow closely behind it on Softonic. Like LimeWire, this P2P sharing app is based on the Gnutella network but unlike LimeWire, it comes with adware so be warned. You will be subjected at various intervals to advertising pop-ups and it seems even if you tell it not to install the ad bundle, it still gets turns up on your PC somehow.

Bearshare's basic interface is functional but very plain. It's got a very similar feel to eMule and it's not difficult to use with a simple search box and file type field, although beginners might be thrown off by the amount of technical information relating to servers, which are best ignored.

So most importantly, what results does it throw up and what's the speed like?. In a nutshell, not half as many or as fast as eMule. We found that the connection speed was quite long and the speeds on the whole slower than you would generally get on eMule. The search times are also rather long sometimes taking up to 10 or 15 seconds to bring up a result. It is also limited to MP3, MPEG, AVI, ASF, MOV, JPEG, GIF and OGG files which is somewhat limited compared to eMule.

BearShare has some pretty basic functions although it does contains a few original tools such as the adult content filter to block or keep adult or X X-rated material from ever touching your hard-drive. This still doesn't stop fake files getting through but offers you a decent level of protection. The bandwidth throttle is also particularly useful and offers options for enhanced connection management and improved downloading.

One of the better features is an option which allows you to connect directly to other friends’ PC's connected to BearShare which and enables you to get considerably faster downloads. Of course, all the other standard functions in a P2P app are there - including automatic resume feature, chat, and media player with full-screen preview mode.

If you're looking for a wide choice of downloadable files, you're definitely better off trying eMule or even LimeWire but if you are a beginner to P2P file sharing, BearShare is a fairly simple and user friendly initiation into the world.

Download BearShare 6.2 in Softonic

ADDAX is a free program for transferring files through the Gnutella network. The software is very easy to use and requires very little in the way of configuration. The interface itself is typical of most other P2P apps, and includes the ubiquitous file finder, library and transfer details, along with a host of options for optimizing your connection.

Besides these standard P2P features, ADDAX also adds some interesting tools such as the ability to add passwords to limit the amount of uploads and the inclusion of a powerful multimedia player. The finder contains some nice advanced search options which let you find exactly what you're looking for quickly, helping to compensate for the often slow transfer speeds. All in all ADDAX is a useful tools for sniffing out downloads painlessly.

Download ADDAX 1.9.0 in Softonic

Trying to find the right P2P network and client can be like walking through a minefield. However, thanks to CruX, you can make things a little less torturous on yourself. The app can be used to quickly connect to popular networks such as Gnutella, Gnutella 2 and eDonkey 2000, as well as boasting support for FTP and BitTorrent connections.

Unless you're connected behind a firewall you should find the program pretty easy to set up. The configuration wizard is very well thought out and within five minutes you'll have the program fired up and sucking downloads like there's no tomorrow. Thanks to the program's support for multiple networks and the fact that it can run without draining too many CPU resources, CruX is a worthy oppontent to the likes of Limewire and eMule.

Download CruxP2P 3.2.8.0 in Softonic

If you’re not impressed by P2P heavyweights such as eMule and Limewire, you might find Warez worth a try. Warez is a P2P file-sharing network based on the Ares network and offers a service similar to that of Kazaa. In fact, up to version 1.6, Warez was an exact clone of Ares Galaxy but since then has branched out to offer some interesting features of its own. As a result, Warez claims to be the third largest decentralized P2P filesharing network in the world with over 1.5 million users.

The first thing to be aware of is that although the developers claim Warez contains no spyware or adware, many users have reported problems on Softonic of pop-up ads and browser hijacks. The installation itself takes less than a minute and once done, you’re taken through a small configuration wizard similar to that in eMule. The interface is also in classic P2P style – a search bar on the left, with search type below it. If you are searching for music, one nice feature is the three windows across the top which “divide-as-you-search”. So if you search for Judas Priest, the name of the band appears in one pane, the names of all their albums in another and finally the names of all their tracks in the last one.

It's obvious that Warez is very much designed to integrate with the web more than most P2P apps. Along the toolbar at the top is a web button which takes you directly to the Warez site where you can expand your search beyond its P2P network. There’s also a torrent button which, via an easy to use wizard, allows you to post your own torrents on the Warez website. Of course, you can also download torrents using Warez. In addition, there’s also a nice media player (although it does not allow previews of partially-downloaded files) and a convenient CD ripper button to put your favourite files on disc. Of course, the chat facility comes as standard.

However, these cosmetic improvements are hardly a giant leap in the P2P world. Warez claims that its major advantage is an “advanced queuing system” and “multi-sourced swarmed downloads”. It claims particular speed advantages over Kazaa and Gnutella networks. In tests, we didn’t notice any significant difference in either download or search times between Warez and these applications although much depends on your own personal configuration and broadband network.

User opinion is clearly divided on Warez. One disgruntled Softonic user reports it has, “port hopping technology designed to get around your network security” and that “you are a fool to install this software.” Another meanwhile says, “I like that there is no spyware…an easy to use interface.” Be careful that if you do notice spyware, it may be down to other programs you downloaded rather than Warez.

In summary, a very good looking P2P and web integrated program.

Download Warez 3.2.0 in Softonic

Streamripper is now part of the FreeBSD standard distribution, mentioned in the Linux MP3 HOWTO, known to compile on many platforms such as Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, BeOS, OS/2. With the emergence of file sharing protocols such as Napster, Gnutella, and now Mojonation and Freenet, the average Internet user can download nearly any mp3 he wants in a matter of no time, but many times people don't know what they want. Streamripper allows you to download an entire station of music. Many of these mp3 radio stations only play certain genres, so you can now download an entire collection of goa/trance music, an entire collection of jazz, punk rock, whatever you want.

Download Streamripper for Winamp 1.62 Beta 7 in Softonic

CitrixWire is a software package which enables individuals to search for and share any kind of media files with anyone on the Internet. It's a multi-platform Gnutella client with features like auto-connect, browse host, multiple search, upload throttling, connection quality control, library management and sophisticated filtering.

CitrixWire is an excellent tool that enables you to easily trace those hard-to-find files on the Internet. It operates on the Gnutella file-sharing protocol and returns tens, hundreds, even thousands of hits in heart beat. It is built for the both the beginner and advanced user.

All you need to do is just enter your keywords or search phrase to retrieve the results, which are available for download. The friendly tabbed interface lets you monitor upload/download activity, add and remove remote hosts, and connect to remote hosts based on content, connection speed, or locale.

Download CitrixWire 3.4.0 in Softonic

With NeoNapster you can download all MP3s, games, software, movies, pictures, and more ultra-fast from the Gnutella network.

Features include:

• Easy to use interface with no ads, banners, or popups
• Connect to the Gnutella network
• Compatible with LimeWire and BearShare fast networks
• Cutting-edge standard supports multiple
• Refineable searching
• Ultrapeer connections
• IRC integrated Chat
• SHA-1 file hashing

Download NeoNapster 4.0 in Softonic

MLdonkey is a multi-platform multi-networks peer-to-peer client. Originally, it was the first open-source client to access the eDonkey network. The protocol was reverse-engineered using an efficient protocol sniffer, Pandora.

Apart from eDonkey , it also supports several large networks, such as Overnet , Bittorrent , Gnutella (Bearshare, Limewire,etc), Gnutella2 (Shareaza), Fasttrack (Kazaa, Imesh, Grobster), Soulseek (beta), Direct-Connect (alpha), and Opennap (alpha). Networks can be enabled/disabled, searches are performed in parallel on all enabled networks, but each file is only downloaded from one network (wait for next release !), but from multiple clients concurrently.

MLdonkey runs as a daemon on the computer. It can be controlled using several interfaces: the simplest one is telnet (telnet 127.0.0.1 4000), a more interesting one is a WEB server (http://127.0.0.1:4080/), and a binary protocol allows access using more elaborate Graphical Interfaces (see the GUIs available on your system at the bottom of the page). MLdonkey comes by default with a GTK interface. All these interfaces can be used locally, or remotely (after disabling security restrictions). MLdonkey is written in Objective-Caml , a powerful language that runs on most Operating Systems.

Download Mldonkey 2.8.2 in Softonic

Based on GnucDNA, Kiwi Alpha uses the same peer-to-peer technology now used by Morpheus, one of the leading file sharing programs today. The app supports the well known Gnutella and the newer G2 networks. With Kiwi Alpha you can easily download any media type such as audio, video, images, documents and software.

There's no player or chat functionality because these features usually tend to use a lot of system resources on your computer. The developer has instead concentrated on searching and downloading, while also providing an easy-to-use play list.

Features include:

• Super lightweight
• Completely free
• Built-in play list
• No lame browsers
• User-friendly
• More search results than Kazaa

With Kiwi Alpha you can download from:

• Morpheus
• LimeWire
• BearShare
• Grokster
• Gnucleus
• Swapper
• Shareaza

Download Kiwi Alpha 3.1.4 in Softonic

KCeasy is a windows front end for the giFT filesharing system. Plugins allow giFT to support different kinds of filesharing networks. KCeasy currently supports the following networks:

• Gnutella (Shareaza, Gnucleus, LimeWire, Bearshare, XoloX)
• Ares (Ares Galaxy, Warez P2P)
• OpenFT (A new network developed by the giFT project)

Download KCeasy 0.18 in Softonic

iMesh Light is a spyware clean version of the popular p2p client iMesh. iMesh Light uses all the same features that are in iMesh but cleans the spyware and ads out and adds many new useful options. You can now use iMesh Light to search simultaneously on other file-sharing networks such as Gnutella, G2 and eDonkey, instantly expanding the P2P community and giving you access to even more sources.

Download iMesh Light 5.5.1 in Softonic

CruX is a peer-to-peer application for Windows that lets you to download any file-type from numerous popular P2P networks like Gnutella, Gnutella 2, eDonkey. Just download it and start using it. CruX connects to many Peer-to- Peer networks, offering access to millions of different users, all from one single program. With CruX's fine designed interface you can do a lot more than many of the other similar programs out there.

Download CruX 3.2.2 in Softonic

Ever since the rise of services like Napster prompted a 24/7 digital music knees-up across the planet, cash-savvy music fans have been connecting to the net and downloading songs in an effort to save their hard-earned pennies for other pursuits - but things are changing.

Of course, there are still people pilfering Gnutella and BitTorrent in the hope that they grab their sonic loot while going unnoticed by anyone that might want to stop them. But many music fans are now simply unprepared to risk the sight of that ominous-looking Sony or EMI-headed envelope sitting on their doormat.

2 find MP3 seems to be aimed at those who still want free music but want to do things a little more "legally". Instead of connecting to a file sharing network, the application allows users to search through files that are freely available on the web for download.

Although it's far from the most squeaky-clean way of getting hold of digital tracks, the application appears to have two distinct benefits over running the P2P guantlet: a) There's no way that anyone can gain entry to your PC through the system; and b) there´s less chance of getting caught.

An interesting model for an application indeed, and, while we would never condone the extraction of copyrighted material, at first sight the program looks pretty good. The interface is as simple as any of the more intuitive Gnutella or BitTorrent clients we've seen and there's no sign of any adware or intrusive third party apps with a mind of their own.

Type in the name of a top artist or popular track and you'll be rewarded almost instantly with a list of files that match your request. It's then just a case of hitting the "download" button (which, of course, we at Softonic would never advise you to do) and slipping on your dancing shoes.

However, things are rarely as good as they appear to be on the surface, and after a few searches within the program, you'll start to realize its major flaw. Although you can access a raft of music from the cream of the rock and pop world, once you start looking for stuff from the more alternative acts, you end up with a screen as empty as Ozzie's memory bank.

The other point to make is that, while there's arguably less chance of you getting caught raiding the digital candy store than if you use P2P, the practice is still a long way off being legal. As an application it can't really be faulted for the purpose it serves, but that purpose is definitely highly questionable.

Download 2 Find MP3 8.7.6 in Softonic

Streamerp2p lets anyone start a streaming radio station with no server required. The application works by having listeners who are downloading the audio stream from the server simultaenously upload the stream to other listeners, who in turn upload it to even more listeners, forming a branching tree.

New listeners tag on the the outside edge of the tree, and because each one provides new upload capacity to the network there is no limit to their number. They also move around in the tree according to their upload bandwidth and listening time, and as others leave and join the network. High bandwidth and long-stay listeners tend to move closer to the broadcast server.

This all means you don't need an internet connection with a lot of bandwidth to broadcast to a huge number of listeners. A low bandwidth modem connection can work just fine. Higher bandwidth connections naturally increase the quality of the audio that is possible. It's almost-free broadcasting, for just the cost of a net connection.

Streamerp2p has a built-in chat system, with a lobby channel, some other system channels, and a chat channel for each station, so you can chat with the DJ. It uses a Gnutella-like mesh to distribute the messages. It also has an embedded web site for each station which streams alongside the audio.

Download Streamerp2p 1.46 in Softonic