Vuze 4.6 adds uTP support, speeds up torrent downloads

Vuze is a solid torrent downloader, especially for less-savvy users. Its built-in media streaming and transcoding features make it a nice start-to-finish app for downloading and playing videos on just about any device. With the release of version 4.6, Vuze has added even more playback kung-fu, as well as one very important piece of bittorrent support.

Both the free and plus versions of Vuze now download torrents in a more network-friendly way, thanks to uTP support (which first arrived in uTorrent back in 2008). Several code tweaks were also made which have resulted in faster downloads, and the Vuze Crew has also tidied up the sidebar, making it easier to access the features users lean on most. Less-used options have been tucked out of the way. Vuze Plus subscribers can also utilize the Play Now feature, which analyzes a video’s download speed and bitrate and begins playing when Vuze can “safely begin continuous playback.”

Vuze is a free download for Windows and Mac — Vuze Plus will run you around will run you about $25 per year.