By now everyone who's ever used a computer surely knows about Peer to Peer file sharing and the controversy it's stirred up since the days when Napster rocked the music industry. Although it's still illegal and you run the risk of being taken to court if you're caught with substantial copyrighted material, there are still plenty of file sharing networks and clients you can use to obtain free music, video and files if you were so inclined.

Using the eDonkey network, eMule stands out from most of its rival P2P clients in the fact that it is open source. The great thing about this is that you're free of pesky spyware and adware, leaving you free to get on with your downloading in peace. What's more, the program doesn't rely on one central server like many older clients. By using a multitude of different servers, the network is virtually impossible to shut down, and proves very robust and secure.

eMule is a cinch to use thanks to the simple layout of the user interface. This doesn't mean it lacks depth though, and its features are some of the most advanced we've seen in a P2P client. For instance, you can view all manner of information on machines you're downloading from, call up charts outlining downloading stats and check download status through an advanced progress bar.

The fact that eMule uses a large network of servers means the search results are abundant, but there's one major annoyance with the client ?? it's very slow at downloading files. This is largely because of the way it handles download priority, which takes into account the number of servers you're connected to, the connection speed, and size of the file. It also relies heavily on a 'credit scoring' system, whereby people who use the service a lot are rewarded with faster downloads. While some may champion this as being in the true spirit of file sharing, the system makes it awfully frustrating for new users who are penalized with ultra slow downloads.

Having said this, it's not difficult to see why eMule has become the most popular P2P app, and if you're prepared to break the law and download music over a network it makes for the perfect accomplice.


Review by James Thornton