Ares

What is Ares

Ares is a free peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing program for Windows.

File sharing programs, such as Ares, BitTorrent, and uTorrent, are used to distribute files among large groups of people. When one user wants to share a file, he uses his torrent program to create a torrent file, which then acts as a "seed." Other P2P software users can use file sharing indexes to download the torrent file, which connects all other users who are sharing that file. This group of peers works together to distribute files among other users.

Ares has a sleek interface that looks like a combination of a media player and a file sharing program. The interface is easy to use and attractively designed. Every screen, including the options screen, is under a tab. Media player controls always stay at the bottom of the interface, no matter which window a user is in.

Despite its unique interface design, Ares shares many features with other file sharing programs. Obviously, the opportunities to create torrents and to share files are the two primary features. The settings menu contains the typical range of options for any file sharing program, such as setting up basic interface preferences and connection preferences.

But Ares also has several other features not available to every torrent program. Ares claims it can find more download sources than other P2P sharing programs, thus increasing download speed. However this is something that could be difficult for a user to measure, since download speed tends to vary. This depends on a number of factors, such as the general network load, the number of seeders and leechers, the time of day and so forth.

As mentioned above, the ever-present controls at the bottom of the interface are part of a media player, so users can preview files as they download. The media player includes a playlist organizer and supports several streaming TV and radio stations. Ares also includes the ability to host and join chat channels while you download. A library organizer function, another feature not common in many P2P programs, allows users to organize downloads by category.

Additionally, this program is open-source, so technically proficient users can download the source code and modify it, add features and create their own versions of the software.

Pros

Free and open-source

Includes several features not available in other file sharing programs

Easy to use

Cons

Stability issues with older versions of Windows

Installation package may attempt to install Ask.com tools