BitComet

BitComet is a freeware peer-to-peer file-sharing program that is compatible with Bit Torrent, the most popular online file-sharing protocol in 2011. The distribution is clean and spyware-free with support for queuing, resuming, port mapping and more. This client competes with other Bittorrent clients such as uTorrent and Azureus, but we think BitComet is probably one of the most stable clients out there with their support for multiple protocols and the intuitive ways it has at increasing download speeds.

Taking a nod from those who love speed, BitComet does a wonderful job at keeping its client stable and fast. Downloads are easily managed and with the click of a mouse, resuming, stopping and pausing downloads is as easy as pie. Thankfully, you can also preview files while they're downloading.

In terms of getting what you want fastest, BitComet allows users to set priorities on certain downloads. With priorities, different files can be put at the top of the queue, using your resources to fetch that file faster than others.

Though the popularity of eDonkey isn't what it was in its heyday, it still contains many files which are hard to locate via other sources and has a strong following of loyal users. BitComet supports that protocol and you can download the eMule plugin directly from their web site.

Also worth mentioning about BitComet is its ability to download files across various protocols, making it versatile in maximizing download speeds. Currently supported protocols are torrents, ed2k (as mentioned above), HTTP, FTP and LTseed, BitComet's very own file-sharing protocol. BitComet can also fetch identical files from other known torrents.

As one of the most advanced file-sharing clients to date, BitComet can download files faster by utilizing several different protocols, accessing as many seeders as possible. One such example is BitComet's unique ability to locate and fetch identical files from other known torrents.

An interesting note about BitComet is a beta test which uses high-speed servers to assist users in downloading files anonymously. Called VIP Acceleration, it's somewhat comparable to a private VPN, but can also improve download speeds. There is currently a free trial available to users wishing to try out this service, similar to SeedBox. Past the 30 day trial, a 10GB limit will cost US$4.99/60 days and heavy downloaders can get a higher limit of 100GB/90 days for US$19.99.

VIP Dialog Box

Finally, with the huge rise of users running 64-bit operating systems to take full advantage of system resources, BitComet offers a 64-bit version of their program. For those worried about the longevity of their devices (Torrent downloads make a lot of read-writes), BitComet uses intelligent disk caching and intelligently reduces disk fragmentation.

From BitComet:

BitComet is a BitTorrent/HTTP/FTP download management software, which is powerful, fast, very easy-to-use, and completely free. It contains many advanced features for BitTorrent download and extends its leading BitTorrent technology to...

Installation Instructions after you download BitComet:

BitComet provides their software as a Windows Executable file and therefore installation is as easy as downloading the file bitcomet_setup.exe and running it directly after retrieving it. We highly suggest using antivirus software before running *any* files from the Internet. The company hosting this file has a trust rating of 9/10.