Anyone who has an internet connection has tried at least once in their life to download something through a torrent client. It's just part of evolution.

If you are not too keen on torrent clients (e.g. uTorrent, BitComet) because they take up too much CPU memory, perhaps you would be interested in a good file sharing software (e.g. StrongDC++, ApexDC++).

One of these is Ares Galaxy. It's a free open source application you can use to download and upload files (audio, video, images, text etc).

Unlike StrongDC++, ApexDC++, or other similar applications, Ares is simpler to handle.

You have your standard, user friendly interface, and a few features.

The most important function, Search, can be filtered to look for audio, video, image, document, software, or other types of file.

For example, in the case of audio files, you can input the name of the artist, the song, and the album title. You can either search for one category or several of them.

Advanced search options include filtering results by tile, artist, genre etc.

The searching time can take a little while, depending on how many results are there. Don't be fooled into believing the software doesn't work (as we first thought) if results are not delivered in a few seconds. The online database is huge, after all.

When there are hundreds of results found, Ares' reaction time drops considerably, so before choosing to download something, just stop the search.

When you change your mind about a particular file, you'd probably want to remove it. In order to do so, you must select "Clear Idle" by right-clicking the respective file.

Removing the file from the transfer page but keeping it on the hard drive is not possible. If you cancel a download, you delete the file completely.

If you have successfully downloaded a file and exited Ares, the file will disappear from the transfer page the next time you start up the application. Downloaded files can be viewed in the shared folder in Library.

In Library you can organize your shared folders by various criteria.

In Screen there is a media player where you can play the entire file or just preview it if downloading is not finished, as well as create a playlist and listen to internet radio.

In Control Panel you can set up your personal details, as well as chat with other people or host a channel.

As far as CPU resources go, Ares fairly uses them.

All in all, Ares Galaxy is a pretty nice alternative to other similar torrent clients, but there's always room for improvement.