If you’re not impressed by P2P heavyweights such as eMule and Limewire, you might find Warez worth a try. Warez is a P2P file-sharing network based on the Ares network and offers a service similar to that of Kazaa.

In fact, up to version 1. 6, Warez was an exact clone of Ares Galaxy but since then has branched out to offer some interesting features of its own.

As a result, Warez claims to be the third largest decentralized P2P filesharing network in the world with over 1. 5 million users.

The first thing to be aware of is that although the developers claim Warez contains no spyware or adware, many users have reported problems on Softonic of pop-up ads and browser hijacks.

The installation itself takes less than a minute and once done, you’re taken through a small configuration wizard similar to that in eMule. The interface is also in classic P2P style – a search bar on the left, with search type below it.

If you are searching for music, one nice feature is the three windows across the top which “divide-as-you-search”. So if you search for Judas Priest, the name of the band appears in one pane, the names of all their albums in another and finally the names of all their tracks in the last one.

It's obvious that Warez is very much designed to integrate with the web more than most P2P apps. Along the toolbar at the top is a web button which takes you directly to the Warez site where you can expand your search beyond its P2P network.

There’s also a torrent button which, via an easy to use wizard, allows you to post your own torrents on the Warez website. Of course, you can also download torrents using Warez.

In addition, there’s also a nice media player (although it does not allow previews of partially-downloaded files) and a convenient CD ripper button to put your favourite files on disc.

Of course, the chat facility comes as standard.

However, these cosmetic improvements are hardly a giant leap in the P2P world. Warez claims that its major advantage is an “advanced queuing system” and “multi-sourced swarmed downloads”.

It claims particular speed advantages over Kazaa and Gnutella networks. In tests, we didn’t notice any significant difference in either download or search times between Warez and these applications although much depends on your own personal configuration and broadband network.

User opinion is clearly divided on Warez. One disgruntled Softonic user reports it has, “port hopping technology designed to get around your network security” and that “you are a fool to install this software.

” Another meanwhile says, “I like that there is no spyware…an easy to use interface. ” Be careful that if you do notice spyware, it may be down to other programs you downloaded rather than Warez.