Opera 8.02 Technical Preview w/BT client

[dubbz]

There's technical preview out for Opera 8.02 with a built-in BitTorrent client. Haven't tried it myself yet (will in a few moments), but supposedly its intergrated so that downloading a torrent is just like a normal download.

Next up: The Kitchen Sink

Saw this on Slashdot (http://it.slashdot.org/it/05/07/06/1537201.shtml?tid=126&tid=95&tid=218).

Get it here:
ftp://ftp.opera.com/pub/opera/mac/802tp/en

[wrldwzrd89]

Wow...I guess this means the BitTorrent community and the Opera community are closely related enough to warrant such an inclusion. I must wonder if any of the other browser makers (Netscape, Mozilla, Apple, Microsoft, The Omni Group, etc.) will follow Opera's lead - if they did, BitTorrent's legal side would get a HUGE boost - which I think is a good thing (even though I don't use BitTorrent), mostly because P2P technology, used in the way BitTorrent uses it, saves on bandwidth costs.

[dubbz]

It will certainly make BT even more credible, having the support of another commercial company (small as it may be)..

There's already a Firefox/Mozilla extension in development. Don't have a link, but check out the Slashdot link and it will be mentioned somewhere in the comments.

Also, just tried the torrent part:

- Clicked on .torrent link
- A message pops up warning you that some upload bandwidth will be used (this message can be disabled).
- Download is added to the normal Download window. The only difference is that instead of only the Download Speed, there's also a Upload Speed listed.

Very seamless.

[Makosuke]

Man, now that's some good news. It's basically the first app that takes Bittorrent from the realm of something you have to be aware of and interested enough in to download a client into the "just click, and it downloads" era. It won't obviate more full-featured clients for people downloading bigger files or seeding, but it is the perfect solution for granny to grab a file--"Opera and Firefox users, just click here; IE users must first download..."

In a way, this is a small milestone of a move to a less centeralized Internet. Neato.