eXeem drops Cydoor and will no longer use 3rd party software

February 9, 2005

Following the closure of SuprNova.org's web torrent listing service, they started working on a decentralised BitTorrent replacement called 'eXeem'. However, just as quickly as users began grabbing hold of the eXeem beta, so did the number of complaints started appearing across discussion forums about its included Cydoor adware.

As Cydoor has a bad reputation previously in software that used it, this effectively harmed the release of eXeem as the majority of former SuprNova users would have had an adware-free version of BitTorrent and were suddenly faced with installing an ad-infected alternative. Like the release of ad-free 'Lite' versions of Kazaa and iMesh, an adware free version called "eXeem Lite" began its circulation.

However unlike most other P2P ad-sponsored software manufacturers, it seems that those behind eXeem have decided to overcome this issue by removing the mandatory Cydoor adware from its software. As an alternative, they are trying out html based ads within the software and doing away with any third party software. brantdk and Nephilim_2001 both used our news submit let us know about the following news:

The decision to add Cydoor to eXeem has indisputable harmed the release and reputation of this client. Few people were willing to accept the fact that it was necessary to add this third party software, let alone actually use the program. Even before the public release of eXeem, spyware-free "eXeem Lite" was circulating around the Internet.

However, after a week of ridicule and torment, it appears Swarm Systems and Sloncek are trying to repair the situation. Today on the eXeem.com homepage, it has been announced that third party software will no longer accompany eXeem:

"eXeem Public Beta version 0.21 has been released. Most of the bug fixes were done to the network system (nodes). We have also fixed the search crash bug. We added a stop function to new files and we are testing out html type of ads in the program. In this release you will not get any mandatory third party software installed with eXeem."

Read the full article here.

Now that eXeem is being released as ad/spyware free, it will be interesting to see if its download/usage rate increases as a result. While I am happy to see embedded advertisement banners in ad-sponsored software, what annoys me is the periodic pop-ups. For example, I found it very difficult to work on a PC while FlashGet (which uses Cydoor) is downloading large files as every five minutes throughout the download, a new pop-up would appear. I decided to remove FlashGet and avoid any Cydoor software when I saw the software get stuck in a loop firing up pop-up after pop-up until the point where PC was unable to cope with any more open windows.

Feel free to discuss and find out more about eXeem and other file sharing software in our Music Downloads, Peer-to-Peer (P2P) & Legal Issues Forum.

Source: Slyck News