Download of the Week: uTorrent 3.0 beta

The beta of uTorrent 3.0 was officially released today. This update to the popular BitTorrent client introduces a wide range of new features and improvements that have been tested in the last few months, including the option to rate and comment on torrent files added to uTorrent, which apparently have been among the most requested in the uTorrent "Idea Bank" website and should give users a better idea of the quality of the files they’re downloading.

uTorrent 3.0 beta adds a new portable mode to run the BitTorrent client without installation as well as the option to stream media torrents while they are being downloaded. It also added the newest version of their remote access functionality to the app, so you can control your downloads from any computer or mobile phone.

Another interesting new option is the super-simple ability to share torrent and torrent links with others. A "drop files to send" area in the bottom left-hand corner lets users create a torrent and start seeding it automatically by simply dragging and dropping files to the uTorrent interface. Users will get a link to send to their friends directly. Or even if you don't create the torrent file, you can always right-click any download and select Send Torrent to share it. There's an option to bundle uTorrent with the shared link to make the process easier on less experienced users.

Besides all this the user interface has been revamped and a "simplified view" was added, all while keeping its characteristic small footprint at around 550Kb. You can download the beta in its 32-bit or 64-bit variants, although the developers warn that the 64-bit version "may be considerably buggier." For now it is only available to Windows users.