In a file-sharing snowstorm, Microsoft attempts an Avalanche

[MacBytes]

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Category: Microsoft
Link: In a file-sharing snowstorm, Microsoft attempts an Avalanche (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20050621020526)

Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)
Approved by Mudbug

[Peterkro]

Non-starter,nothing to see here ,move on. :rolleyes:

[poundsmack]

and no one in there right mind will use this network....except those who like being spyed on

[Fender2112]

and no one in there right mind will use this network....except those who like being spyed on

This may be a useful alternative but I don't think "file swappers" will be standing in line to get to it. In the US there is a saying, "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."

[Lacero]

I'm surprised Microsoft didn't call their protocol BitAvalanche. They are such copycats.

[AlmostThere]

The technology is a significant improvement on bittorrent - you don't need all of the file fragments to recreate the complete file. Anyone who has used BT will be aware of how frustrating it can be when you are stuck at 99%.

Implementing this methodology is certainly a step forward for file distributing technology.

However, the ability to restrict files to 'signed' ones suggests that this will not see widespread adoption by the home user. I guess it will underpin a number of commercial schemes though, especially when multi-gigabyte files such as HD movies are made available for purchase (saving the distributor substantial bandwidth costs and increasing profi ... ahem, offering the customer more value).

[nagromme]

BitTorrent is great, but if it (or MS's variation) ever became REALLY widespread commercially, I'd expect ISPs to add upload caps unless you pay--which you'd then have to do to participate in this kind of system. Otherwise, the bandwidth cost saved by the file providers is simply shifted to the ISPs, as I see it. Still efficient and ingenious, but there's no free lunch.

[munkle]

Well Bram Cohen (creator of BitTorrent) has already branded Avalanche as "vapourware":
"I'd like to clarify that Avalanche is vapourware," Cohen said. "It isn't a product which you can use or test with, it's a bunch of proposed algorithms. There isn't even a fleshed-out network protocol. The 'experiments' they've done are simulations."

Whilst it might be a tad harsh to brand it as vapourware, if you term it as a product that will never see the light of day (lets at least try to give MS the benefit of the doubt!), Bram Cohen does tear into it pretty comprehensively over at his blog (http://www.livejournal.com/users/bramcohen/). Here (http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/0,2000061733,39198116,00.htm) is another article, which talks about the same stuff.

[Eidorian]

Maybe all that bandwidth for patches and Service Packs got to them...

[solvs]

The people who use BitTorrent don't do DRM, and probably don't like Microsoft much. It's like when they try to do music or a Photoshop alternative. Even the xBox. Some people are going to use it, but it reeks of the me too's that they are famous for. At least Apple takes something unpopular and makes it better. M$ takes something already established and forces it's way to market.

For now I don't see a lot of people moving away from BT. Not for this. I can't help wondering what they're thinking? Must be some type of new service with a lot of heavy restrictions. Like for movies or something.