KaZaA - I remember when I first used KaZaA after I was told by a mate of mine that it was an excellent program. But, having previously already had Morpheus, I downloaded it thinking "wait a minute - this is a blatant tax of Morpheus!" Of course, I now know better, and I believe it was KaZaA that were the original peeps who used the FastTrack technology first. And, after so many years on (don't ask me how many), KaZaA is still up there distributing its fantastic client whereas others (i.e. Morpheus) have fell through.

KaZaA uses the FastTrack network (or Sharman's network it might be known as now) which is my favourite of all networks due to its fast speeds and high reliability. What makes this program a pleasure to use is its simple interface and layout. There are several tabs across the top  of the main window which you use to find your way around the program (see screenshot). If you've used Napster before, you'll feel right at home. Even if you haven't, a blinded monkey could use it - it's that user-friendly. What disappoints me about the tabs at the top, however, is the needless buttons for 'Bonzi Buddy' (which can be removed by right-clicking and selecting "Remove"), 'Shop' and 'Tell a Friend'. Now, I understand that it isn't exactly free to run the client for KaZaA, and they do need to make their money, but there is an advert bar which can be  incredibly annoying when it CONSTANTLY FLASHES. These buttons can be slightly annoying to have on your screen, but I guess we can live with it.

Connecting to the network couldn't be easier either. As soon as you start the program, KaZaA attempts to connect to the network straight away, and you usually are connected pretty quickly. I have noticed though that you do get disconnected every now and then which causes the 'Traffic' and 'Search' tabs to grey out. I'm not too sure why this happens, but it appears to happen more then it did when Morpheus was the client it used to be. But on the flip-side, KaZaA does connect quicker then Morpheus once did, so I guess it can be overlooked.

The searching facility on KaZaA is better then one on any other file-sharing program - and I can safely say that without worrying if I'm wrong. You can search for different types of media (audio, video, images, software etc.) just like most other clients, but what makes KaZaA different is the extra search options that you have when you select your media. For example, if you search for audio, you can use the extra options of searching for the bitrate of those files or the genre of music you are trying to find. Or if your searching for video files, you can specify what size of the file your looking for is, or what resolution of the video you want to find is.
One problem of KaZaA though, is for some reason they've limited the bitrate of the MP3s you can search for only up to 128kbps - which really sucks. There was a registry hack you could use to fix this limitation, but I'm not too sure whether it now works or not - it's something I'll have to check out. I'll keep you posted on that issue...

The download speeds you receive on KaZaA are pretty much excellent most of the time. This is due to the multi-source download feature which only file-sharing programs on the FaskTrack network seem to be able to really get the most out of (see screenshot). Multi-source downloading works by finding more then one user who has the file that you are trying to obtain, and downloads parts of that file simultaneously from different users. This really does increase the speed of the download a lot (broadband users will see this the most). But what keeps me using this program is the reliability of your transfers. If you try to get a pretty popular MP3 for example, you can pretty much guarantee you'll get the complete file every time. This is mainly down to the multi-source feature, but even if you exit the program and return a day later, your transfers can be resumed too.

Other feature of KaZaA include some nice internal audio and video players. Now, although these aren't as good as Winamp or Windows Media Player, its a great feature to have when you just want to listen to the MP3s or watch the videos that you've downloaded without any hassle. You also have the "My KaZaA" tab (which is what used to be "My Media" on Morpheus) which is a nice place where you can view all the files that you are sharing and have downloaded.

KaZaA really is the complete file-sharing program that is available. The problems with it which can be really annoying at times include the banner ads that are viewed and the occasional pop-up windows that appear, the needless "Shop" and "Tell a Friend" tabs, no Hotlist type feature (which would have been REALLY cool), and of course - Spyware. Yes, what was the main reason why Morpheus was the best choice of all the FastTrack clients was the fact that it didn't contain any spyware. But, now that the Morpheus we used to know is gone, we are left with no alternative but to use KaZaA (or Grokster) which unfortunately DO contain the blasted spyware. Personally, I don' t have too much of a problem with spyware, but for those of you that do, you can download AdAware from the Misc. Downloads section of this site to remove it.  Alternatively, there are hacked versions of KaZaA available on the net which have had all spyware removed, and I'll keep you posted on these when I manage to get them on the site.

NOTE: Found it :). If you want a spyware/adware/banner-ad free version of KaZaA (and I recommend that you do get it), then you can download a hacked version of KaZaA known as KaZaA Lite by clicking the download link in this section. If you would like to know more about KaZaA Lite if you're a bit paranoid about downloading it, then just give me a buzz (e-mail ;)

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SUMMARY: So, KaZaA. It's a great program which has fantastic features, good download speeds and a userbase of over 1 million people. Wow. However, there are niggles with this program that make it annoying use at times (all mentioned above) which does bring down the rating. It's still  the best all-purpose file-sharing client available on the net though, and I can't see that changing for quite some time now. Morpheus was the king, but due to it's changes, it's had to hand over its crown to KaZaA. But it's not a bad alternative to turn to...

Pros : (Very) Large user base - Very user friendly - Internal media players - Fast downloads - Easy connection to server - Multi-Source downloads

Cons : Limited MP3 bitrate searches  - Too much memory used to run program - Maybe a little too user friendly? - Only a maximum search result display of 100 - Spyware installed :S

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