AfterDawn: News

Kazaa to become "Net's most successful program ever"

Sharman Networks, the owner of the P2P application Kazaa claimed today that its application is soon going to take its spot as "Net's most popular program ever".

Sharman's claims are based on Download.com's figures, where the #1 spot currently belongs to AOL's instant messaging program, ICQ. ICQ has -- as of midday today in East coast -- currently 229,363,307 downloads and Kazaa has now 229,150,955 downloads. Kazaa is currently been downloaded over 300,000 times a day from Download.com, whereas ICQ is downloaded only 50,000 times a day (ICQ is just much, MUCH older application).



The claims are all fine and nice and obviously highlight that Kazaa has been an enormous success, despite its flaws and problems (broken downloads, fake files, etc). But basing such claims only on Download.com's figures is simply ridiculous -- AFAIK, AOL's WinAMP has an existing userbase of over 250M, Macromedia claims that appx. 90 percent of world's browsers have their Flash application installed (and believe me, there are more browsers installed than P2P tools in this world), WinZIP is one of the tools that everybody downloads and installs immediately after installing Windows, etc. So, to put Sharman's hype in perspective: Kazaa is soon (if not already, haven't checked the figures on Download.com yet) the most popular software download at Download.com.

Source: CNet's News.com (owners of Download.com as well..)

Written by: Petteri Pyyny @ 23 May 2003 16:10

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• 18 comments

• A_Klingon

  Well, as you know - since the program is free - you must put up with a few inconveniences (like popup ads), and I've heard lots and lots about personal privacy being invaded, but, the main reason I haven't installed Kazaa yet is because of the awful way you must download and install it.
  
  Just like Microsoft's IE-6, you must download a short installation file. Then the installation in turn downloads the main program. Those of us (me) with dial-up modems would *much* prefer to download the Whole Thing once, and once only (and archive it, say, to a blank cdr).
  
  I don't mind being online when I install the program (you must be), but if you have a system crash, or for any other reason (new HDD), you need to re-install your OS, you must download the whole damn thing over again.
  
  (Maybe this is why Kazaa doesn't appear in our own download section?)
  
  -- Mike --
  

  24.5.2003 04:48 #1

• cjo9900

  well i chose to go to kazaa lite which has none of the ads and can be downloaded and archived
  chris

  24.5.2003 06:14 #2

• A_Klingon

  Thanks, cjo9900!! I will indeed look for kazaa light!!!! :-)
  
  -- Mike --
  
  

  24.5.2003 06:36 #3

• seanbyrne

  I would recommend Kazaa lite of the regular version. Kazaa lite is roughly half the size of Kazaa Regular (2.3MB versus 4.5MB) and comes in a single 2.3MB file. This benefits both downloading time and keeping those pesky ads and spies off the system.
  
  Just note that Kazaa lite doesn't need Administrative rights under NT/2000/XP to install. This likely means that Kazaa lite would be used by more students than the regular version.

  24.5.2003 07:21 #4

• mjuliaoi

  does kazaa lite... offers the same search and download capabilities? because the media player sucks...it is better to use windows media player 9 or winamp for mp3...
  

  -MJ

  24.5.2003 07:21 #5

• Azra_B

  This one is even better, Kazaa Lite K++
  Here at http://k-lite.tk

  24.5.2003 10:02 #6

• tribal-t

  You people are living in the dark. KaZaa Lite is much better. It has great programs with it too, (not spyware, adware), but connection boosters and free spyware elimination programs.
  Link: http://doa2.host.sk/
  
  

  24.5.2003 11:09 #7

• dRD

  Mike: The reason why Kazaa is not avail on our site is the enormous amount of spyware it is bundled with. And overall, I don't like FastTrack -based tools very much :-)
  

  Petteri Pyyny
  Webmaster
  http://AfterDawn.com/
  
  Please read our guides before posting questions! Guides are available here:
  http://www.afterdawn.com/articles/

  25.5.2003 01:21 #8

• A_Klingon

  (OK, gotcha).
  
  Howdy, stranger! Good to 'see' you in here! (Are you a 'newbie'?) Sometimes we don't get to see you very often in (other) places.
  
  Well, I've always thought that Kazaa might have the upper edge when it comes to .mp3 variety. (much better overall selection, because of more people using the system). WinMX, on the other hand (which is in your software section) is a breeze to use, and _very_ usefully, you can play back a partially-downloaded .mp3 track with WinAmp. This is an important consideration for people with slow, dial-up modems - to be able to cancel an otherwise l-o-n-g song download, if the track is the wrong one, or it sounds really poor, etc. But trying to find some specific tracks with WinMX is often impossible. (Not as many users as kazaa).
  
  I've just downloaded a thingee called:
  
  kazaa_lite_210_kpp_edition_english_build3.exe
  (thanks for the links above, guys), but haven't tried it out yet. The download page promises, "NO Spyware! NO Adware! NO Popups", etc. I shall have to take it for a spin.
  
  -- Mike, The Mod --
  

  25.5.2003 02:30 #9

• A_Klingon

  <UpDate>:
  
  Hol-ee S........ :) This Kazaa thing is fast!. (I just installed it, and am downloading an .mp3 in the background as I type this).
  
  I did a quick search for "Jim Stafford", and WHAM! Pages and pages of stuff!
  
  (But alas....it is as I suspected), I seems I can't preview/play the track (same as with Blubster). I won't know what I've ultimately downloaded until the file is complete. This could prove to be a real time-wasting shortcoming for modem users like myself.
  
  So for now:
  
  WinMX = ease of use, instant file verification.
  
  Kazaa = for harder-to-find tracks that can't be obtained elsewhere.
  
  I saw no ads or popups.
  
  -- Mike --
  

  25.5.2003 03:11 #10

• dRD

  The main reason why some of the tools are not available from our site:
  
  http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/3390.cfm
  

  Petteri Pyyny
  Webmaster
  http://AfterDawn.com/
  
  Please read our guides before posting questions! Guides are available here:
  http://www.afterdawn.com/articles/

  25.5.2003 04:28 #11

• maryjayne

  Why worry about Adware and Popups? I use Adsgone Popup Killer, and I dont have to worry about those pesky nuisances.
  
  As for Spyware try Lavasoft Ad-aware. It works wonders!
  

  Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
  - Benjamin Franklin
  
  Time is never wasted when you are wasted all the time.

  25.5.2003 13:42 #12

• Azra_B

  See, that version of Kazaa is awesome because of KaZap. I only use it for music and the occasional video

  25.5.2003 16:24 #13

• Odyssey

  I must attest that Kazaa lite is defenitely THE P2P of choice for availability. As with any program, there are going to be bugs, but you must take the bad with the good.
  

  DJ

  25.5.2003 16:44 #14

• Ghostdog

  Quote: I use Adsgone Popup Killer, and I dont have to worry about those pesky nuisances. I use Opera as my internet browser. If I feel like going to a site I know will have a lot of pop-ups, I just select "Refuse pop-up windows" from preferences. Easy.

  26.5.2003 06:38 #15

• vudoo

  Well Kazaa-Lite is nothing new. I've used it for over 1 yr now. Been using it since 1.7. I love Kazaa-Lite. If more people would just Download Kazaa-Lite the world would be a better place to live. I think the reason people don't use Kazaa is because they don't know how great Kazaa-Lite is. You can preview a movie before it is done using AVI preview. It previews DivX files, and the newest version by A.J will do MPEG as well. It would be great of the leaders would use this client because it has great potential. I can't figure why people would want to use server dependent clients like Edonkey.
  Now there are many other p2p apps that are great too like Shareza. It uses Gnutilla 2 and Edonkey and Bit Tarrent. It has lots of great movies and Mp3's. I think it may difinately out perform Kazaa-Lite. People share their warez as well. I enjoy the content I find there. G2 will never die because it is not centralized like some other clients.
  Winmx depends on servers. It is too easy to take down by the RIAA and NPAA. It is a good client though. It is not a place for a newbie because people are very selfish on Winmx. There is plenty of fake stuff there as well and if you do find a real file you better share 20 GB like I do or your getting cut off when DLing a movie. It is more like a file-traders P2P app then a file sharing P2P app.
  
  Voodoohippi
  (Defender of FREE cyberspace)

  26.5.2003 19:26 #16

• Ghostdog

  Any word on when the new version of KL will be out? According to the homepage it should have been out by now. I figured that if the new version is only days away I´ll hold back on upgrading my version.

  27.5.2003 07:24 #17

• vudoo

  Random Nut said he'd make a update to patch a serious security hole that would allow an attacker to crash the super nodes. So I suspect it will be soon. Keep checking www.k-lite.tk and don't trust the REAL Kazaa since it is full of spyware and Altnet crap. Bisises the Participation level thing ruins Fastrack.
  
  Voodoohippi
  (Defender of FREE cyberspace)

  29.5.2003 11:22 #18