Soon, popular torrent site The Pirate Bay will no longer host torrent files. Instead, it will only offer magnet links. Magnet what now? You may have seen the term 'magnet link' before, but if you haven't used one, here's the lowdown on what this change means for you as a BitTorrent user.

How Magnet Links Are Different From .Torrent Files

When you download a .torrent file, you're essentially downloading a small file that contains information on the larger files you want to download. The torrent file tells your torrent client the names of the files being shared, a URL for the tracker, and more. Your torrent client then calculates a hash code, which is a unique code that only that torrent has—kind of like an ISBN or catalog number. From there, it can use that code to find others uploading those files, so you can download from them.

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A magnet link does away with the middleman. A magnet link is essentially a hyperlink containing the hash code for that torrent, which your torrent client can immediately use to start finding people sharing those files. Magnet links don't require a tracker (since it uses DHT, which you can read more about here), nor does it require you to download a separate file before starting the download, which is convenient.

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How to Use Magnet Links

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Magnet links are dead simple to use. If you head to the Pirate Bay now, you'll notice that magnet links are now the default, with the 'Get Torrent File' link in parentheses next to it (a link which will disappear in a month or so). Just click on the magnet link, and your browser should automatically open up your default BitTorrent client and start downloading. It's that easy.

What This Ultimately Means for You

The short answer is nothing. In fact, it could mean that downloading torrents takes one or two fewer clicks, since all you have to do is click on the link to start the download. When magnet links first came out, not all torrent clients supported them, but now you can use magnet links with just about any semi-popular torrent client out there—including our favorites uTorrent, Transmission, and Deluge, among others, so you shouldn't notice a problem with that.

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The main reason torrent sites are moving toward magnet links—apart from convenience to the user—is that these links (probably) free torrent sites like The Pirate Bay from legal trouble. Since The Pirate Bay won't be hosting files that link to copyrighted content—that is, the torrent files—it's more difficult to claim the site is directly enabling the downloading of copyrighted material. Whether this semantic leap actually protects torrent sites remains to be seen, but for now, you can sleep soundly knowing that the sites will stick around for awhile longer and that your torrents will take one less click to get started. If you want to read more about magnet links, check out the Wikipedia page on the subject.

uTorrent was once a lightweight, open source alternative to BitTorrent's official software. Its speed and streamlined interface made it the tool of choice for music, movie, and game fans worldwide, but after its acquisition by BitTorrent in 2016, its popularity waned.

Soon after the buyout, uTorrent became closed-source, preventing users from modifying its code to create their own variations, and contributing to its development. Advertisements also began to appear in its once-simple interface, giving former fans a further reason to look elsewhere.

It's also fallen foul of security vulnerabilities, including issues with the web and desktop clients revealed in February that left users at risk of snooping and hacking.

At first blush, there seems to be a vast array of free alternatives to uTorrent, but in reality many of them are riddled with malware and rife with security issues. That's why we've done the hard work for you and compiled a definitive list of the best, fastest, and most secure options available, complete with their respective pros and cons.

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1. qBittorrent

Lightweight and feature-packed, without uTorrent's bloat or ads

For anyone looking for an alternative to uTorrent that looks similar but lacks the bloat, qBittorrent has a lot to offer. This lightweight client manages to pack quite a punch without devouring system resources.

Like all good clients, it supports both torrent files and magnet links, and the installer is pleasingly free from unwanted extra software or toolbars. Despite its close resemblance to uTorrent, qBittorrent doesn't feature any ads either, leaving you free to get on with managing torrents without distractions.

There are some nice touches like the ability to shut down or hibernate your computer once downloads are complete, the ability to create torrents, and an integrated RSS reader to help you keep up with your favourite sites. There's also a torrent search engine available (if you don't mind installing Python), and all the essential controls (prioritising, pausing etc) can be accessed through either the main toolbar or via tabs on the multi-pane interface.

Its shallow learning curve, clean installer, lack of ads, and array of features make qBittorrent the best free alternative to uTorrent.

2. Tixati

A lightweight uTorrent replacement with built-in chat channels

Tixati's interface might look garish once you start downloading files, with graphs rendered in alarming shades of red, green and blue, but there are customization options to tone it down.

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As well as all of the standard torrenting features such as throttling, encryption and bandwidth management, there is also a social aspect to Tixati. Channels (decentralized and anonymous) can be used to chat with seeds and peers, which could prove handy if you're struggling to grab the last few megabytes of a file and want to ask for more seeds or faster uploads.

Tixati is very light on system resources, meaning it is lightning fast, and the encryption and security features included should help to calm the fears of anyone who's slightly anxious about torrenting.

3. Transmission

Easy to use once you learn the quirks of its unusual interface

Transmission was originally only available for Mac and Linux, but the Windows version is starting to gain traction too.

In the past, Transmission has experienced issues with security and malware, but these have now been resolved and the software can be evaluated for what it is: a decent torrent client. It's worth noting that it's presented as 'early preview' software, so it's still very much a work in progress.

Prince of persia trilogy pc download. Transmission isn't going to win any beauty pageants – little effort has been taken to make the interface attractive or appealing. That said, it still manages to get the job done. It's slightly unfortunate that the program will be off-putting to many people simply because many options are slightly hidden. Adjusting settings for individual torrents, for instance, requires you to double-click the entry for the torrent as there is no secondary pane to allow for easy editing.

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Transmission isn't for everyone, but it's worth a look when you're moving on from uTorrent.

4. Deluge

A cross-platform uTorrent alternative with plugin support

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You're spoilt for choice when it comes to the platforms supported by Deluge. As well as Windows and Mac editions, there are also version available for all the major Linux distros – you can even download the source code if you feel like getting your hands dirty. https://ninrail.netlify.app/beerbongs-and-bentleys-album-download.html.

Windows users will find that the program looks more limited than the other options here, and that first impression is correct – as a client it only really has the basics covered. Thankfully, Deluge support plugins and there are dozens available (official and third-party) to download free.

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This means that despite its apparent simplicity, Deluge is actually the most customizable torrent client out there; you can pick and mix the features you want and ignore the rest. If you don’t want RSS support, for instance, there's no need to add it. Deluge also supports remote access, and offers convenient extensions for all the popular browsers.

5. BitTorrent

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Has the basics covered, but like uTorrent, it's ad-heavy

BitTorrent is the original, but not necessarily the best torrent client. Pride and prejudice and zombies in hindi download. You might have very high hopes for BitTorrent Inc's official software, and while it's perfectly adequate, it's not much more than that. If you're just looking for a tool to get the job done and you don’t want to place your trust in third party tools, it might well be worth investigating.

Things get off to a good start the client is available for Windows, Mac and Android. All are free, but you'll have to upgrade to BitTorrent Pro if you want a version without ads. You also have to watch out for bundled extra software included in the installer.

BitTorrent offers support for torrents, magnet links and torrent search engine files. If you've used uTorrent, you know what to expect; this software is largely identical, but there's the added bonus of being able to create torrents.

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