aMule is a Peer to Peer (P2P) application for streaming a variety of different media to your Mac.
By now everyone who has ever used a computer surely knows about Peer to Peer file sharing and the controversy it has 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 like FrostWire.
What is special about aMule?
Using the eDonkey network, aMule stands out from most of its rival P2P clients because it is open source. This frees you from pesky spyware and adware, leaving you able to get on with your downloading in peace. In addition, aMule 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 is consequently very secure.
aMule is simple to use. This doesn't mean it lacks depth though, and aMule's features are some of the most advanced to be seen in a P2P client. For example, you can view all kinds of information on machines you're downloading from, call up charts outlining downloading stats and check download status through aMule's advanced progress bar.
What are the results like?
Since aMule uses a large network of servers its search results are pretty vast. There's one major annoyance that can come up with aMule though: it's very slow at downloading files. This is largely because of the way aMule handles download priority, which looks at the number of servers you're connected to, the connection speed and the size of the file.
aMule also relies heavily on a credit scoring system, where 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 frustrating for new users who get penalized with ultra slow downloads.
Still, with its simple interface and loads of features, it's not difficult to see why aMule has become a very popular P2P app.
