MUSIC TO MY EARS. (KaZaA)

Member Name: thingywhatsit

Product:	KaZaA
Date:	08/11/03 (234 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: GREAT TO HEAR MUSIC

Disadvantages: BOGUS DOWNLOADS

I have had Kazaa for some time now and recently, my computer was updated and I downloaded KazaaLite.

For those of you who know nothing about this program, let me start from the beginning.

Kazaa is a peer to peer downloading system. In other words, you have the ability with this software to download onto your own computer any files that are being shared by anyone else that is online at the same time as you. It really is very clever.

To start on the download process, you need to go to Kazaa.com and download their desktop, which is a very simple procedure. You have a choice of different kinds, and I chose the KazaaLite because you do not get the same amount of adverts popping up. It is much more stable and I have had a lot less problems with it than the original Kazaa Desktop.

When you have downloaded the desktop, you have a screen that shows you the options that you have. There is a search facility and when you press this, you can either enter the name of an artiste that you want to find, or the name of a piece of software you are looking for, even photographs. Say for example you want a good photograph of a forest, type in the word forest and then tick the box for photographs and you will see what is online. When you find what you want right click it and press download and it starts to look for the file you want.

In the section market traffic, you can keep track of the things that you are downloading and see what progress they are making. Downloading is notoriously slow on a standard 56K connection like I have, but even so, I can still download a whole album of music in a day whilst I am doing my housework.

I like Kazaa very much because I can sample peoples work before I spend money on CDs. I remember when we could go into a record shop and listen to a record before buying it. These days this is not always possible. Maybe in big towns, but certainly not in a small community like I live in, and Kazaa allows me to
listen to a piece of music at my leisure and make up my mind whether I want to buy the album or not.

The other advantage that Kazaa has is that I find music I would otherwise never find. I simply type in something obscure like "Indian" music, or "scandinavian music", and Kazaa comes up with the goods, and I can experience artistes that I would never have otherwise heard of.

Another advantage with Kazaa is that I can look up music that has shaped my past, records from the sixties, the odd song that reminds me of a time in my life, and 99 per cent of the time, the song is there waiting for me to download it.

There are downsides to a site like this. There is little control over downloading viruses and I think that anyone using the site should make their own arrangements for virus protection. I am protected by the latest technology and trust it at the moment, whilst being aware that viruses are getting more and more sophisticated (if that is the right word).

I have found images on Kazaa that I use for backgrounds for CD covers, and altogether I am very happy with this program.

When you find a person that has the kind of music that you like, you can right click on the track in question on the traffic page and ask to see all the music that this particular user has as well as being able to message him/her. I find this useful and very user friendly.

My Kazaalite button shows you all the files that you are sharing and the control is with you. You share what you want to share. There are easy to follow instructions in the tools section and I have found the whole Kazaa experience to be an enriching one.

I have just typed in a request to see something that would worry me as a parent, whether things are available to download that would be unwise for children, and I was surprised. There is a section at the top of the download desk called options, and here it would be very wise for parents to set up
the type of files and nature of files that they do not want their children downloading. I was unaware of this until I looked, but thought that many of you out there may want to protect your children. The words I typed into the search just to see what came up was child porn and I was disgusted that there are files available. On the filter section of the options, you can set up a protection against this kind of smut.

I just did it and it works thank heavens. You can also set up a protection that is password protected so that your children cannot download offensive things.

I use this program for music, although there are people that use it for downloading film on faster connections than mine.

Altogether my opinion of Kazaa is positive, although I do understand the artistes that feel they are being cheated by downloaders. I would be perfectly happy to pay a fee if asked to do so, in order that artistes get a share from downloaders, although so far I have not been asked to.

Of all the downloading programs that I have tried, I stick with Kazaa because I find it the most user friendly, and the variety of music is amazing, from pop, international, classics, and obscure. It is all there.

Good luck and try it out.

Rachel

Summary: