ULI STIELIKE  Since Mac OS X 10.5.6 the search function seems to be broken. The integrated search was a unique selling point for XTorrent which sadly no other developer copied. Besides the broken search facility XTorrent has serious memory issues which makes it necessary to force quit the app way too often.

The question is:

Is XTorrent dead or will there be an update in the future?

Untill the answer becomes clear look elsewhere for a (free) alternative.

In short:

Great feature-set and user interface but the application suffers cathastrophically from lack of love from its developer. Customers, who bought this slightly overprized piece of software, are left in the cold.   
(Version 1.1v53)

ULI STIELIKE  I don't know what they were thinking when they designed version 6 of this application. Tri-Catalog 4 and 5 were great and there wasn't a reason to upgrade to 6 weren't it for the fact it was a PPC application and not very fast on Intel.

Instread of just improving version 5 and making it Universal, Tri-Catalog 6 looks like a complete rewrite with a new interface as well. And it is horrible. Pressing 'command-F' brings up a new search window which defaults to just searching 1 of your indexed volumes (one that is selected by default). You have to uncheck that volume first to search all of your indexed volumes. Basically that's a custom search then and you have the opton to save this search, but you can't make it the default search behaviour (!).

Version 6 is not compatible with your old indexes. You need a seperate (free) application to convert it to the new format. Once converted hoewever you are not told where to put the new volumes. Turns out they should be somewhere in your Application Data folder. The importer shpuld be integrated in the main application and it should put the imported volumes in the right place automatically.

The main interface consists of 3 columns. In the interface there are two input boxes for search terms. None of the 2 however functions for searching for something in all volumes (a volume is an indexed DVD or CD). You can search for a volume name in those boxes only. That is utterly pointless since all your volumes are shown in the left column already. I want to search for contents on any disk matching my search terms. I don't want to search for the name of a CD or DVD!

Let me stop here because writing about this application is as frustrating as using it. This is a usability nightmare for a very high price considering the more modern and usable applications that have shown up is this category the last couple of years.

The application is very capable but taking advantage of the power it has is very difficult.

Please get yourself an interface designer!!!  
(Version 6.0.6)

ULI STIELIKE  Well, XTorrent still works even if it has not seen an update in a very long time. I use it almost every day and the problems I experience are mostly fixed with quitting the application and starting it again. Sometimes it freezes after you click a download button and it takes some time te recover from that, but then it works again without quitting the app.

It's a dissapointment that this application is not updated anymore. I have not seen a BT app arrive with the same features Xtorrent has. Because I really like the seach function (you can easily add you search engine or BT-site of your choice). This makes it a very user friendly program. I would like to see the search function be implemented in Transmission. I searched their forums but only saw one request for it. And a developer answered that is was a useless feature that will probably never be implemented in Transmission. I just don't get it. That guy probably never used the search function in XTorrent.

Please developers of competing programs: Take a look at the search function in XTorrent and copy it bit by bit.

Don't be too arrogant to add the only (but very) useful feature Xtorrent has into your own application. Don't dismiss it as useless. Seaching and downloading the XTorrent way is 100% Mac-like and no one has done it better to this day.

Let me make this clear: I would not recommend this application at all. It's development status is unclear, each future Mac OS update can make the application unusable and from what I read there is obviously no support for paying customers.

This is a potentially 5 star application (and some days it still is for me) but other days it can drive you nuts. 2 out of 5.  
(Version 1.1v53)