Massively explains Warhammer Online to the dedicated WoW player
AOL Tech

Metalinks: Integrated BitTorrent, HTTP, and FTP downloads

MetalinkHere's a cool development I wasn't aware of until just now: Metalinks. Metalinks makes complex download pages obsolete by replacing long lists of download mirrors and BitTorrent trackers with a single .metalink file. As you might have already guessed, a .metalink file is a file that tells a download manager all the different ways it can download a file. The file itself takes the form of an open XML standard that can list an unlimited number of HTTP and FTP sources as well as BitTorrent trackers and ed2k and magnet links. Currently Metalink is supported by four download managers: GetRight 6 for Windows, Speed Download (beta) for Mac OS X, aria2 for *nix, and the cross-platform wxDownload Fast. OpenOffice.org recently began offering Metalinks for downloading the open source office suite. In addition to simplifying the download process, another advantage of this sort of distribution is that a smart download manager could download from several sources simultaneously, making for stable downloads even if one or more mirrors go down. I'm really hoping Metalinks catch on and we see them supported by many more download managers, P2P programs, and web browsers. If you want to start using Metalinks to distribute your own software, media, or whatever, the Metalink web site has a handy Metalink Creator that will build a .metalink file for you without you having to learn any of that pesky XML.

[Via Torrentfreak]

Related Headlines

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Download Squad Features

View Posts By

Categories
Audio (878)
Beta (365)
Blogging (714)
Browsers (91)
Business (1390)
Design (835)
Developer (946)
E-mail (537)
Finance (131)
Fun (1824)
Games (586)
Internet (5030)
Kids (142)
Office (512)
OS Updates (599)
P2P (188)
Photo (479)
Podcasting (169)
Productivity (1380)
Search (293)
Security (557)
Social Software (1154)
Text (445)
Troubleshooting (54)
Utilities (2042)
Video (1072)
VoIP (141)
web 2.0 (836)
Web services (3449)
Companies
Adobe (192)
AOL (53)
Apache Foundation (1)
Apple (489)
Canonical (36)
Google (1355)
IBM (30)
Microsoft (1345)
Mozilla (484)
Novell (20)
OpenOffice.org (46)
PalmSource (12)
Red Hat (17)
Symantec (14)
Yahoo! (361)
License
Commercial (701)
Shareware (198)
Freeware (2111)
Open Source (950)
Misc
Podcasts (14)
Features (399)
Lists (0)
Hardware (167)
News (1141)
Holiday Gift Guide (15)
Platforms
Web (7)
Mobile (2)
Windows (3778)
Windows Mobile (437)
BlackBerry (47)
Macintosh (2146)
iPhone (113)
Linux (1647)
Unix (79)
Palm (177)
Symbian (124)
Columns
Ask DLS (11)
Analysis (35)
Browser Tips (299)
DLS Podcast (6)
Googleholic (206)
How-Tos (105)
DLS Interviews (19)
Design Tips (16)
Mobile Minute (136)
Mods (69)
Time-Wasters (413)
Weekend Review (40)
Imaging Tips (32)

RESOURCES

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Powered by Blogsmith

Sponsored Links

Advertise with Download Squad

Download Squad bloggers (30 days)

#BloggerPostsCmts
1Brad Linder9216
2Lee Mathews4665
3Jason Clarke241
4Jay Hathaway2110
5Christina Warren1612
6Christina Clark135
7Dolores Parker44
8Lisa Hoover42
9Todd Ritter32
10Nik Fletcher30
11Grant Robertson10

Most Commented On (60 days)

Recent Comments

Urlesque Headlines

BloggingStocks Tech Coverage

More Tech Coverage

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: