Downloading a video this way was no faster than a torrent download, in my testing-but, again, that will depend on your connection and the peers you can connect to. You search for Web videos using the same search box as you do for torrents, just choosing the Web video option from the clear dropdown arrow. SoMud lets you download any online video over HTTP, and can be used as an FTP client. But the results showed, as expected, that download speed is more a matter of your connection and the file sources, rather than the app you use. This test showed no advantage for either: Both downloaded the torrent at a healthy rate of 320KBps.Īn interesting note was that Vuze found more sources for the file: 5096 compared with 3799 for SoMud this could potentially improve your download rate. Since running both simultaneously resulted in one deferring to the other, I paused one client's download while noting the throughput for the active downloader. Both apps showed time remaining and bitrate, though Vuze's presentation was clearer. I used a public Wi-Fi access point rather than our screaming fast corporate Internet connection, and chose the same torrent, which both apps rated as fast. I did a quick-and-dirty SoMud speed test using "Four Eyed Monsters," a 1.06GB independent film freely distributed by The Co-Create. Vuze's encryption isn't as simple for a nontechnical user to set up as SoMud's, but at least Vuze dispenses with the dubious parental control. If you think you can dream up every off-limits term your kid might search on, well, you're wrong. Apparently, the parent has to think of any nasty terms the child might enter and type them in an exclusion list-that's a basically useless system. Maybe less realistically useful is a parental control that password-protects against using certain search terms. SoMud also gives you better visualization of download rate and progress, even showing a graph that indicates throughput over time.Ī couple of other desirable options are SoMud's ability to encrypt your incoming and outgoing data streams, and to have your antivirus software scan downloads automatically. One thing I do prefer about SoMud's layout, though, is that it shows your in-progress downloads in a top panel while still allowing you to search for more files in the main panel. Another speed feature where Vuze has SoMud beat is that it checks your connection speed and optimizes your bandwidth based on that. But I wish you could sort by speed to see the fastest on top, as Vuze does automatically. Fortunately, you can disable this in the Settings dialog.Īs in Vuze, bars in the results area helpfully show how fast download will be for each. Hovering the mouse cursor over this opens an info window showing your current download and upload rates and what you're transferring. One oddity in SoMud's interface is that it leaves an always-on-top button with its raindrop visual on your desktop. One downside to this built-in search is that you don't see any of the results unless you scroll down past the ads. Search results are presented in a three-tabbed main window below the transfer area, for P2P files, Web videos, and Music. If that's not enough, a dropdown takes you to a page on SoMud's website listing two dozen of the most popular torrent search sites. Both include a handy built-in search box, but SoMud can search for Web video or audio as well as for BitTorrent content. Our Editors' Choice, Vuze, has a somewhat more polished interface than SoMud. The basic software is free, but for a $24.95 one-shot price, you can get the Pro edition, which removes ads, adds some unspecified tools, and includes tech support and upgrades. The latter lets you specify a search provider, but you can always change it later. Then you OK the license and choose between quick and custom installation. Your first choice at installation is of language-English, German, Spanish, French, and Portuguese are available. Such is the world of free software, but luckily you can decline all of this baggage. If you check SoMud's "Fix page not found errors" option, SoMud installs not one but two toolbars, one of which presents results from when you enter a bad URL. Both try to change your browser's search provider and home page, and Vuze tries proposes that you install more trial software. Unlike Vuze, SoMud doesn't need to install Java or any other extra runtime code, which I prefer. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security SoftwareĪ simple, free 15MB download gets you SoMud.
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