Did you miss Firefox? I hope you're using it right now, so you shouldn't miss it, but what about the SoftDistrict Series? I hope you did, because despite the fact I may not be able to install that impressive number of Firefox addons I have in mind by the end of the month, I've been thinking about this subject a lot, and also talked with some of my geek friends about my idea, while using Firefox 3 with the best Firefox addonI met so far, of course! Most of them think the browser will crash somewhere along the way, or will be turned into "Slowfox," but I think there are plenty of chances for this to succeed. Anyway, today we'll take one little step towards the starting line...

...by booting up Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit and getting to know the hardware and software setup I'll use for the test, and also choosing the sites I'll load with Firefox each time I'll install new plugin sets. These being said, let's start with the hardware setup, shall we?

The parts that could have an impact on the speed of our beloved Firefox and those - hopefully - 500 plugins we'll have in the end are the following:<-120x240 Vertical Banner - right->

- MSI K9N Neo v2/v3(MS-7369) mainboard, usually known as MSI NEO-F V3, using revision 2.5 of the BIOS(there were some problems with memory performance in earlier versions, at least for me and some other guys using this board, now it works like a charm)
- AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane(BH-G1) processor, slighlty pushed up, from 2.1GHz to 2.4GHz(approximate rating 4600+ now), with stock cooling and default voltage
- A-Data Extreme Edition DDR2 800+ 2X1GB memory kit, running at 800MHz and 4-4-4-11 timings
- Asus EAX1950 Pro PCI Express video card with 256MB of GDDR3 memory, just great for running Vista without any problems
- Seagate ST3320620AS 320GB S-ATA drive, with 16MB of cache memory and spinning at 7200rpm

The above should be enough, since I don't think that my speakers, monitor or mouse could help Firefox load faster those sites I have in the list, but before getting there, let me tell you what I am usually running when I use Vista. Obviously, I have more stuff installed, but since we are trying to reproduce a real-world situation here, I won't close everything else and run Firefox alone, so here's what will compete with it to get the most out of my hardware:

- XMPlay, a brilliant audio player, because I can't live without music. Just as a side note, I have to tell you that I'll listen to my music collection from a different partition than the one used by Firefox, so that shouldn't have any impact on the loading speed.
- MirandaIM, simply because it offers me all I need, and I hate Yahoo's Messenger software, although I love Yahoo as a whole(I know it may sound strange, but that's the truth). "Smaller, Faster, Easier" is finally more than just a headline!
- Unreal Commander, a very good (and free!) alternative to the notorious Total Commander that's getting better with each new version, and still has to reach version 1.0!
- avast! 4 Professional and Spyware Doctor, both pretty good antivirus and antispyware solutions, perfectly compatible with Vista.
- Firefox 2.0.0.16, just updated, followed by a manual update to Firefox 3, of course, but there's still some time and a lot of things to do, until then.

I know there's still a tool for measuring startup time needed, but I'll get it until next time. For now, there's still one big thing to do - give you the list of sites I'll be using for the test. Are you ready? Here we go...

- The list of notorious sites contains Yahoo, YouTube, Microsoft, Apple, PC Magazine, Wikipedia(theEnglish Wikipedia, in my case), Alexa, About.com, Mozilla, IMDB, AMD and CNet. 12 so far...
- Next, there are some of the sites from our network - TechPin, BindApple, Cool Gadget Concept, HQ Speakers, Laptops Arena, PlayerzBlog and Pets Funky.
- In the "heavyweight category," we have the following: 2Advanced Studios, probably the best Flash site I have ever seen, the Short Movies section on Pixar.com, Discovery Channel, and Vida Guerra's Official Site(she's not really my type, but the site is well done, and seems to load a pretty serious amount of data, that being the main reason for me to include it in the list).

This is it - 23 sites, if I didn't count them wrong... After loading all of them, Firefox 2.0.0.16 eats around 210MB of memory, and I only have a few plugins installed now. These being said, we'll check back in a few days, when I'll make the final preparations for the big test! Stay close - subscribe to our news by email, bookmark us, set this site to open with your browser, that's not important, just be sure to be by our side, and if you have any ideas until then, don't hesitate to drop a comment below!

Read more No comments

Most of the Firefox users I know have a lot of addons, no matter if they're running Firefox 2 or Firefox 3. Now, the problem appears when some of those addons start crashing, or when Firefox ends up eating huge amounts of memory. Yesterday, I read an older article on CybernetNews about having 200 addons installed in Firefox, and this made me think about taking things to a whole new level... Since all that was happening back in 2006, when Firefox 3 was not ready yet, and to have 200 addons installed and notice how the browser behaved with one or two sites opened is already a bit outdated, I decided to try and go for a new Firefox 3 world record as of 2008!

Obviously, things are not that easy as it seems, because I have a really rough ride in mind for Mozilla's pet, my computer, and myself as a user. Here's what I want to do:

1. First of all, I will be using Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit, and the last Firefox 2 version. No matter what people may say about it, Vista seems to have a better memory management than XP, and I also think it may all get a bit more interesting in Vista...

2. I won't start installing extensions right away, because there's one more thing I have to do first - create a group of sites able to stress the browser a little from the beginning. I am not talking about more than 20-30 sites - those from our network, and then some big ones, like IMDB, Google, Microsoft.com, Yahoo, 2Advanced.com and maybe another 2-3 Flash sites...I'll let you know when that is done, don't worry!

3. The sites in the group will be set to open with Firefox, and then I'll start installing extensions. I'll tell you next time how I will choose those extensions.

4. After installing a batch of 50-100 addons, I will perform some tests to see how is Firefox handling them. More about those tests, in the next episode, of course!

5. If the browser doesn't crash and it doesn't run out of memory either(hah! I would like to see that!), I will try to reach the 500 addons installed mark(Guinness Book, here I come!), but this is only the first part...

6. As soon as I reach an insane number of addons installed in Firefox 2, I will install Firefox 3 over it, and this should keep all settings intact and, more important, all addons. If Firefox 2 would crawl with that whole bunch of extensions installed, we'll see the real difference between the two versions of the browser for sure.

Now, some last thoughts... If you want to get involved, feel free to drop your comments at the end of the article, I surely want to get some fresh ideas from other Firefox power users! If you want to steal my idea, at least give us a backlink... More people doing this would mean more results for the tests, and it may even give some interesting data to Mozilla and the producers of those plugins we'll install, who knows...
<-234x60 Half Banner - right->
At last, I can tell you this - tomorrow, I'll setup the group of sites to use, we'll go through my Firefox 2 settings and currently installed addons once more, I'll tell you a few things about the software and hardware I am using, and then we'll get ready for the first 50-100 addons, which I hope to have installed and running by the end of the week, if not even sooner.

So...what do you think? "Firefox with many addons" doesn't mean 10, 20, or 50. Firefox with many addons means "as much as it can carry," and if I reach 500+, I won't need to get into Guinness Book, although that would be a nice achievement. The record set by Firefox 3 made me think about a record I can set by using it, and since I am not up for "longest Web browsing session," here you have it - over 500 Firefox addons installed & running, headed your way!!!

Read more No comments

I know, I know - I am late, but look on the bright side - better late, than never! What should we talk about today? Well, the answer is simple - how to use Azureus, if I recall it well. To be more specific, we should discuss about configuring Azureus, as I promised you last time, when we learned a few general things about this BitTorrent client, and you had a chance to see how to install Azureus, as well as its setup choices, explained.


<-120x240 Vertical Banner - left->We'll get to the setup part right away, since I guess you already have something in mind, and I hope you want to create a logo for free, download a free 3D graphics software, or even get HD content for free, because all these are possible without breaking the law. Anyway, before you download something, I strongly advise double checking what you're grabbing with Azureus - MPAA and RIAA are hardly waiting to get their hands on you! After all, you may have downloaded some files already, since Azureus can easily work right out of the box for most people, but it won't work as it is supposed to be, as you're going to see right away...

After I installed Azureus (I will mention it once and for all - we're talking about Azureus Vuze, since it seems the "classic" version of the program is dead now), I - obviously - started it. So far, so good. I even downloaded some files without changing any settings, but then something hit me in the eye - the interface was not in English!

Come on, I had no language choice during setup, my Windows XP Professional is the English version, and Azureus installed by default the local language, simply because of my Time Zone? It seems so, and I can't really tell about other localizations, but I hate the one in my native language, so I always use English. If you're not like me and you enjoy localised applications, you can skip the next paragraph. OK now, others - let's see how can we fix this, shall we?


Leaving the menus aside, it's enough to press Ctrl+, and you'll be taken to the Configuration tab right away. A very handy addition to Azureus allows you to search through the available options, so simply type "Language" in the search box (translated into the language used by the interface, of course) and you'll be taken to the right option. Otherwise, you should expand the Interface branch, and then find the Language option, which should be first one, as you can see above. After choosing English, or another language that's better for you, click the Save button below, in the left corner.


Good, since we solved the language problem, today I'll show you how to solve another problem - user proficiency. Obviously, you won't become a BitTorrent expert in an hour, but you'll learn how to start digging in. If Azureus already works like a charm, you can simply quit now, but if you're headed towards becoming a power user, you should stay and prepare for what's headed your way...

To start the Configuration Wizard, simply open the Tools menu, and pick it from there. Now, let's follow it, step by step...


Language? Didn't we change it already? Well, we did, but the Configuration Wizard doesn't know that. Too bad the Wizard doesn't run when you start the program for the first time after installing it, as it did before (and if it does, than I got bad luck and it didn't, for me)!


When it comes to user proficiency, I always select the highest level possible. Why? Better have options that you don't know how to use, than lack those you need!


Next, we have the connection settings. These should be pretty easy to set, and if you have no idea about your bandwidth, using a free connection testing tool, like SpeedTest.net, could be a good idea.


In most cases, you should simply skip the NAT/Server Port screen, but first, do the test to ensure that the currently selected port works fine. You should do the same, especially if you had problems with the default configuration.


I've seen too many people that have no idea where a certain program downloads data. To avoid being like them, be sure to change the default folder for Azureus as you can see in the screen above!

At last, press Finish and you can start downloading, if you didn't do it already! On the other hand, you can leave Azureus aside, get back to your life, and wait for the next episode in our series, which is exactly what I would do, if I were you.

Read more No comments

Azureus is a BitTorrent client that was built using Java, and while it's compatible with multiple operating systems (Linux, Windows, Mac OS X), we're going to talk only about the Windows version, and there's no need to explain why.

Before running the application for the first time, make sure your system has the latest JRE installed. If not, you can download it from the official Azureus homepage, so let's move on...

Once you have downloaded the program, the setup process won't be as easy as expected, because the settings chosen now can have a major impact on the download speed and amount of memory taken up by Azureus. Anyway, don't expect it not to be resource hungry, because this is an application built using Java, after all.

These being said, let's run the setup package and follow the steps required to complete the installation process, and have Azureus up and running, shall we?


<-234x60 Half Banner - left->As you can see in the image above, I am installing Azureus Vuze 3.0.5.2. Needless to say what needs to be done at this stage...
Once the next setup window opens, you will see the License Agreement. If you're not familiar with the GPL license, you can take your time to read it, but we're sure that in most cases people simply click "I Agree" and move on, so do as you wish. The time you spend reading the License Agreement doesn't have anything to do with your experience as a user, so let's move on to the next step, but don't forget to click the button saying "I Agree," first!
Now that the License Agreement is behind us, we have to choose the location where to install the program, set the file association(automatically opening Torrent files with Azureus), and then wait for a little, while the files are copied.
<-customad->Next, I ran into a little problem. Two, in fact, so I advise you to pay attention here, if you don't want to curse later. Now, depends on the type of user you are, of course, because some people that I won't ever understand like to have their browser full of toolbars, and the default search option to be one they are never using. Considering these, I guess the screenshot above should explain it all - be sure to uncheck both options on this screen, and then press Next to move on.
Look! Now, you can run Azureus Vuze, but before starting to download anything, you should carefully adjust the settings to match your Windows version, Internet connection, and - if your computer isn't powerful enough, some of the choices you make now can have a great impact on the program's performance.I don't know about you, but I am a bit tired, so I'll leave the configuration part for tomorrow, or better said, "starting tomorrow," because when we're talking about settings, this program really has a lot of them. In the meantime, be sure to get ready for next round, all right?

Read more One comment

Hello again, and welcome to what I will try to turn into an stream of articles regarding the installation and use of some notorious BitTorrent clients, and maybe even some additional Torrent-related tools, if you'll ask. The idea is pretty simple - I have a plan written down, which I won't completely reveal now or later, because there's plenty of time to hit each subject as we move on, but if you want to know more about some program, just name it, and if it's not on my list, I'll add it. Now, let's talk a little about the big things to come...


Contrary to what most people may think at this time, the BitTorrent communications protocol was not created to help pirates distribute illegal copies of movies, music and games, but to lower costs of hardware, hosting and bandwidth required when dealing with large files, and the first to use this were various Linux distributions.

Since I am sure you're not crazy about technical details, let's check the highlights I have prepared for you already, shall we? As I said, nothing is final, so I will say it again and again: don't hesitate to stand out and shout what you want!

First of all, we'll talk about Azureus, considered by many users to be the best torrent client software available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Since Azureus has a classic version and a new one, called Vuze, and there are some differences between them, we'll also see what Vuze can do and the classic version can't.

Next, we'll cover the same topics for BitComet - installation and initial settings, downloading torrents, creating new torrents and uploading them to a tracker, setting speed limits and using BitComet's search feature.

The third program we'll talk about is uTorrent, a tiny yet powerful piece of code that only requires you to download it and run the executable, without any boring installation and setup steps needed.

Since most downloaded files are disc images using the ISO format and others that are similar, you'll learn how to handle them, using some of the best tools available to get the job done - Daemon Tools for mounting disc images, PowerISo and UltraISO for editing them, and Nero to burn your CD or DVD discs using these images. These are extra-tools, and if you say "no," I can easily push them aside.

Last step of our Spotlight on Torrents series will be to talk about the father of all torrent clients, the first program from this category that has seen the light of day, BitTorrent.

Of course that the list is open - and this is the last time I say it. Since there are a lot of individual torrent tutorials on the Web, but I didn't run into such a thing as this one I am planning now before, I am sure we'll end up with some nice articles in the end but, more important than anything else, I want you to interact with me. Don't be afraid to ask questions, that's why we have the Internet at our disposal, and don't forget: knowledge is power!

Read more 2 comments