Kazaa
(Kuh-zah, Kah-zaa, Ka!-za!,
Kah-za!-ah, take your pick)
Kazaa is file sharing for the next generation. When Napster was the 'big thing' only music could be traded. So Wrapster was designed, to make a bogus mp3 file which would pass as music, but it really contained files. However, it was imperfect for a lot of reasons. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) were warned by several sources (myself included) that if they brought down Napster, the next big thing would be decentralized (thus it couldn't be shut down) and the music-only limit would be lifted. They shut down Napster, and true to prediction Kazaa became the next big thing.
With Kazaa, any type of file can be downloaded. If you do a search under Everything, anything that matches the search query would come up. Luckily it has 5 categories to choose from. Music includes all audio, Video, all video, Documents is like office files, text, Acrobat, whatever. Images is any image and Software is archives and executables. As a matter of fact, with nothing on your computer but Windows, internet connection software, and Kazaa, you could get an office suite, graphics programs, the latest Windows and a burning program to burn the CD image, all the music you could ever want and some movies as well. However Kazaa's developer, FastTrack, made a horribly fatal mistake.
They intentionally shipped Kazaa with a computer virus called CyDoor. CyDoor now is a popup delivery system, because they got in some trouble for the first version. The original CyDoor logged every email address you sent to or received from via email software or the web. In another file, it logged everything you downloaded in Kazaa and every web site you went to. It then sent both files (via Kazaa, no less, so firewalls couldn't stop it) to Spammers, who would (get this...) Spam all your email contacts with targeted advertising based on what you downloaded or looked at on the net. So if you downloaded porn and sent your grandmother an email on the same computer, your grandmother would be bombarded with porn email. CyDoor cleaned up their act, but since they had been deceptive from the start, the damage was done.
Someone (I don't know who) reverse engineered Kazaa and took out CyDoor, plus its ad support, and re-released it as KAZAA LITE. KL used about 10% fewer resources than Kazaa and was a little more stable. Shortly after, another user in turn hacked Kazaa Lite, and added numerous performance enhancements. So not only is FastTrack (now Sharman, who bought it) not making any money because everyone is going to Kazaa Lite or the new Kazaa++, they can't shut it down because the network is decentralized. And programs are coming out every month that work with Kazaa++ to enhance it further.
To get started in the fun, go here and download the latest Kazaa++. When I made this, it was 2.1.0, but it may have been updated. Also, you will want to check out the Kazaa Codec Pack, on the same site, if you plan to look for videos.
I am sharing three complete Anime series and two incomplete ones. I am on DSL so these are available 24/7 unless I'm rebooting. I have every Hack Sign, Noir, and Final Fantasy Unlimited episode made, and I am downloading Hack Legend as it releases. I like to IM the people that have the newest ones and explain that I am one of the people sharing and to try to give me priority, so that the "next" person to download can download from me as well. Did I forget to mention that you can download a file from up to 40 different people, assuming that many people are sharing the same file? That's why it's good to share. The more sharing people have a file, the less time it takes the next person to download it. The other series is ThunderCats which really isn't an Anime but it's animated. American animation.
I am also sharing well over 1,200 music videos recorded from television or home video. If you're tired of seeing the same kind of videos on TV, Kazaa is for you. I have all the best rock videos and tons of classics as well. I have Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin both in color! Live! That's not to say rock is all I have because I have rap, metal, pop, techno, industrial... a little bit of everything, but all of it's good. Furthermore I have over 200 homemade videos. You will never see these on TV. Someone takes a bunch of Anime or video game footage, arranges them neatly, and dubs a song over it - that's a homemade music video. Some of them have just random images, others have events in the video which go with what is being said in the song. If you have Kazaa, search for Pikachu. Yes, the annoying yellow Pokemon. Look for a file around 20MB. You should download it - everyone should see it. Pikachu sings, and his mouth moves with the words. It's the best one out there, considering I hate Pikachu and I hate Pokemon.
Though I officially know nothing about it, hundreds of full movies in near DVD quality are also available, if downloading a 700MB file doesn't bother you. This is where the Kazaa Codec Pack really comes in handy. Any computer can play an MPEG file, but at a standard of 10MB/minute, a movie that is 2 hours will be 1200MB. Most people use Divx to compress their video, but another one called Xvid is also available. Plus dozens more. Everyone has their favorite, and the Kazaa Codec Pack has all of them! The best way to tell if you need the codec pack is if you download a video and it is sound only, or does not play at all.
Another thing I officially know nothing about is downloading software. I download demo games from time to time, but I've heard you can find full version games and full complete computer programs. But that's all I've heard! Seriously!