Alternative to Napster (WinMX)

Member Name: creamsoda77

Product:	WinMX
Date:	11/07/02 (410 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plently of downloads, Resume downloads, No spyware

Disadvantages: No internal MP3 player, Layout isn't perfect

Like many others when I heard Napster was shutting down I was very disappointed. Sean Fanning and Co. had done something revolutionary at the time and Napster was soon known worldwide with millions swapping music files around the world. New bands loved it as it enabled their music to be heard, and some very established bands such as Radiohead and Foo Fighters thought it was a great way to promote their music. However it seemed all good things come to an end, which Napster did and they were forced to close their networks.

Browsing a discussion forum I found that Napster wasn’t the only thing for file sharing, I read that somebody was using a programme named WinMX and it was doing a fine job for them. I went to the website, and although it looked unprofessional and a bit scrappy I was pleased with what I read. Like Napster it was freeware and did not contain Spyware or any other hidden programmes, which is why I never used Kazza.

I downloaded the software, which took a few minutes and was very easy to install and was straightforward enough. Although WinMX was not as beautifully laid out as Napster and its colour scheme wasn’t perfect within minutes I was back to downloading music again. I was a tad disappointed to find no built in internal MP3 player but this was quickly forgotten when I found you could resume broken file downloads, that may have occurred from timeouts or being disconnected from the internet. It had many options Napster did including chat rooms and a hotlist. Although you cannot save your hotlist as the names are cleared when you exit there are many other features WinMX has. You can adjust the incoming and outgoing bandwidth throttles. If you are going out, with a file still downloading and want to save electricity you can tell WinMX to disconnect and shut down the computer once the download has finished. Search results are also very good and I can find whatever I want. You can also download pictures, applications, video
s, text, but you should be careful when downloading Zip files as you don’t know if they contain any sort of Virus or Trojan, no problem for me however as I just stick to my music.

Recently, WinMX realised v3.22 with a few more features with the programme seeing changes to the interface and making it more ‘user friendly’. Using WinMX has provided me with everything I need and I have never looked back. Although it may not be as wonderfully planned and mapped out as Napster was, it does a very good job and still has many features Napster does and many Napster didn’t.

Summary: