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Filed under: Internet, P2P, DLS 101

DLS 101: 6 free programs for casual users that download torrents

by Lee Mathews Jul 8th 2009

Most of our regular readers probably have a favorite stand-alone torrent application like uTorrent, Vuze, Transmission, etc. Our friends and family, though, who don't download via torrent all that often may not want a dedicated program.

There are plenty of other programs you can use that come with torrent downloading abilities baked right in. Here are six options I've recommended to my friends. If you have some other options to share, leave them in the comments!

Use your web browser: Opera and Wyzo (pictured above) - What better place to get support for torrents than in your web browser? WIth Opera and Wyzo (which is based on Firefox) torrents are handled just like any other download. Click a torrent, and the download manager kicks in the same as it would if you downloaded an image, document, .zip file, or whatever.

Use your file sharing program: Limewire and Frostwire - Many of you are already using one of these programs to download music, but they can also handle your torrent downloads. The newest version of Limewire features much-improved torrent support (thanks to the LibTorrent project). Frostwire is built on Limewire's foundation, and provides the same functionality. One key difference is that Frostwire won't ask you to upgrade to the pro version, because there isn't one.

Use a download manager: Free Download Manager and FlashGet - FDL does tons of great things that you'll appreciate. It can accelerate and resume your downloads, grab Flash videos from sites like YouTube, easily upload files to share with your friends, and tell you what the community thinks about the files you download. FlashGet also does download acceleration and resuming, and it adds some handy download organization features. And, of course, they both support torrents!

Tags: basic, beginner, dls-101, download, torrent

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Filed under: Fun, Games, Internet, Time-Wasters

Run BASIC: today's time-waster

Time Wasterby Jay Savage May 24th 2007

Run BASIC

Ever wish you could go back to 1984 (and we mean the real 1984, no the other 1984)?

Now you can. Sort of. Run BASIC is a site that lets you relive those heady days of PEEKs and POKEs by giving you a place to run BASIC programs.

Actually, Run BASIC is based on Liberty BASIC, not the more familiar Apple or PC versions, so it only takes you back to 1992. But all your favorite command line and lo-res favorites are there, including hangman and HiLo. You can also write your own programs, or just dig out those old manuals.

This really geeked me out when I saw it. The thrill I got from flipping on our first //e, typing a few simple lines into the built-in BASIC interpreter, typing 'RUN,' and watching my programs actually begin to to something was what got me hooked on computers in the first place as a kid. Seeing how high the computer could count was always a favorite, as was anything that involved an infinite loop or GOTO sequence that left an END someplace other than the last line.

[via Chris]

Tags: BASIC, Liberty BASIC, LibertyBasic, programming, Run BASIC, time waster

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Microsoft releases Vista upgrade chart, reason surrenders

Windowsby David Chartier Jul 31st 2006

Microsoft Vista upgrade matrix
Microsoft has unveiled a Vista upgrade matrix, detailing which present versions of Windows are eligible for upgrading to one of the four relevant versions of Vista (Starter and Enterprise are targeted for specific markets and therefore not included in this matrix). To make matters a bit complicated, however, some editions (such as XP Pro or Win2K) are only eligible to upgrade to a "corresponding or better" version of Vista, i.e. - Business or Ultimate. As icing on the cake, some ugprades will require a fresh wipe and install, while others can be upgraded 'in-place', retaining your applications and settings.

To be clear, however: all present versions of Windows listed in this chart are eligible to purchase upgrade editions of Windows Vista. Previous versions, such as Win98 and ME, will have to purchase a full edition of Vista.

Tags: 2000, 2K, basic, business, chart, home, matrix, media center, MediaCenter, microsoft, premium, pro, tablet pc, TabletPc, ultimate, upgrade, vista, XP

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Commercial

Four Windows Vista flavors on one DVD

Windowsby Jordan Running Mar 1st 2006

Windows Anytime UpgradeAccording to ZDNet's Ed Bott, the retail version of Windows Vista will include four of the OS's six-plus flavors on a single DVD.  The versions included on the DVD will be Vista Business, Home Basic, Home Premium, and Ultimate, and which version gets installed depends on how much the purchaser spends and what product key they use to install Vista. This is a good move on Microsoft's part because it prevents retailers from having to stock four versions of the same product and promises an easy upgrade scenario called Windows Anytime Upgrade. If a user has Vista Home Basic installed and wants to upgrade to Premium, for example, they can just buy a product key for an upgrade fee and install the beefier version of Vista from the disc they already have. Perhaps not so good for Microsoft is the fact that it's going to take hackers a couple weeks, tops, to figure out how to get those upgrades for free. However, Microsoft is used to piracy and has no doubt made ample room for it in its business model, so I doubt we'll see Redmond struggling at the hands of such hackers any time soon.

Tags: basic, flavors, home, premium, ultimate, upgrade, vista, windows

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Commercial

Six(ish) versions of Vista, then?

Windowsby Jordan Running Feb 27th 2006

The many flavors of Windows VistaFirst they were, and then they weren't, but now BBC News is reporting that, Microsoft has really, officially confirmed that it will be shipping Windows Vista, to quote our own Victor Agreda, Jr., in "a rainbow of flavors." Ready? Start counting:
  • Vista Business
  • Vista Enterprise
  • Vista Home Basic
  • Vista Home Premium
  • Vista Ultimate
  • Vista Starter
You can head over to BBC News for all the deets, but here's the gist: It's pretty much what we've been expecting. Vista Business and Enterprise are pretty much what you'd expect. Home Premium does everything Home Basic does but tosses in the Aero GUI that we've seen in all the screenshots and "will also be able to connect their machine to an Xbox 360 gaming console"--expect it to be the version that ships on most OEM PCs. Vista Ultimate combines the features of all the other versions and, finally, Vista Starter is intended for low-end PCs in developing nations. Additionally there will be "versions made specifically for Europe that, in accordance with an EU mandate, remove the Windows media player," which are analagous to the "N" versions previously rumored. So that adds up to... yep, a rainbow of flavors.

Tags: basic, business, enterprise, home, microsoft, premium, starter, ultimate, vista, windows

Filed under: Developer, Fun

BASIC in your browser

by Jordan Running Dec 22nd 2005

NG-BASICJust try to dodge this fast-moving bit of nostalgia: Navaho Gunleg has created NG-BASIC, an implementation of the BASIC programming language in JavaScript that runs in your web browser. Though documentation is a bit sparse, it's a blast to play with and try to remember all the BASIC I've forgotten since middle school. He's even used the Canvas object available in Firefox 1.5 so you can draw graphics with your BASIC programs.

Related posts:

Tags: basic, javascript, ng-basic, programming

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