Originally posted by aschexl:
Are these free of spyware?
Yes, no current Mac file-sharing apps contain spyware.
Good file-sharing programs:
- Acquisition: very nice interface; can use for free but nags you every 45 mins.
- Acqlite: similar to Acquisition, but uglier. But it's free.
- DirectConnect: several clients. High learning curve, but potentially worth it.
- Bittorrent: excellent and fast. But files stale-date quickly and you have to find sites that list bittorrent urls
- MlMac: GUI interface for MLDonkey. Huge numbers of files. Works well, but downloads are slow. You need patience to use it, but it works. Access to the Kazaa network
- Poisoned: works well. Access the Kazaa network.
- Carracho: Mac-only. Very community oriented. Need tracker urls to find servers (get these from
http://www.tracker-tracker.com/)
- Hotline: Mac and PC. Similar to Carracho. Lots of PC scamming jerks. Get trackers from
http://www.tracker-tracker.com/. Several Mac Hotline clients (e.g., Frogblast)
- KDX: like Hotline/Carracho, but more secure. Ugly non-Mac interface, but works well. need trackers.
- Xnap: java app for downloading music (like Limewire). Works pretty well.
- 2get: doesn't work well
- eetee: bloated and ineffective
- IRC: an excellent resource for file-sharing, but very hard to understand. Not worth the effort unless you want to spend several days reading tutorials to understand IRC chat commands.
- Usenet clients (see below) such as Unison and MT-Newswatcher.
There are one or two others that I missed, but they don't work well.
Your best bets for music are Acquisition or Acqlite, Poisoned, and Xnap. Bittorrent and MlMac are best for TV shows.
If your ISP has a decent number of usenet groups, then using a newsreader like MT-Newswatcher or Unison (very nice interface) is an awesome way to get music and TV shows. If your ISP's usenet service sucks, then you can sign up with one of several sites that offer excellent usenet access. Usenet use requires some knowledge of how the binaries are posted and decoded.