Comments on: Browsers add BitTorrent support

Opera releases a test version of its browser with support for the peer-to-peer program; Firefox on the way.

"Browsers add"?

This made me laugh. Opera adds a new feature to its browser, and CNet posts a story "Browsers add Bittorrent support."

Not "Opera adds Bittorrent support" but "Browsers add Bittorrent support."

Sure, once you read the article you see that Opera has as working program TODAY and Mozilla is "planning one", but the headline makes them equal.

I know folks are enamored with Firefox, and I think it's a great browser too, but would it have killed you to recognize and give recognition to Opera for being the first one to make it available? Instead of a story about Opera's continued innovation, we get "Opera and Firefox".

It's not a story about Opera and Firefox. The story is that Opera has added yet another great and useful feature which will be available to users who download and install their browser (which still comes in significantly smaller than FIrefox, even thought it has a Bittorrent, Email, RSS, Usenet, and IRC client built in.

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Not quite correct

The story clearly states that "Opera's support for BitTorrent is still in the 'technical preview' stages, and the company is not providing a hard date for when it will be added to its core software." This sounds to me like it is in alpha testing.

Firefox will have BitTorrent available as an optional extension. This sounds preferable since it does not force me to have a BitTorrent client that I may not like. I am not so sure I like the idea of a BitTorrent client built-in to the browser anyway.

Furthermore, it should be pointed out that Opera is not free. The code for the browser is proprietary and the browser costs $39 (seems pretty steep to me). I do realize that there is an advertisement-supported version, but why waste screen real-estate and bandwidth on this when Firefox is completely free and actually offers free tools to block annoying advertising?

I don't mean to flame Opera. I realize that they are a company looking to make a profit and I do appreciate that they are offering another choice in browser technology, however, I do not think that this will ever become a popular choice for the desktop in its current form.

[shoust]

I think the story title should be changed.

To "Browsers to add bitorrent support", yes Opera has added bitorrent support as a technical preview, but it isnt for certain if it is implemented into 8.02 final yet, plus the planned extension is uncertain as nothing is released yet.

Why?

Why would you add BitTorrent support to the
browser? Sure, it would save the trouble of
downloading a BT client, but at the cost of using
your browser as the client (several megabyte
browser versus a dedicated client that's 1/5000th
the size).

Surely, simply mapping the approriate mime-type
for the torrent file in your system ought to make
it just as easy to use. Heck, just put a JNLP
link to Azureus on your site. Once the app is in
the cache, you're good.