<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
is	O
a	O
peer-to-peer	O
file	O
sharing	O
client	O
running	O
under	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
which	O
supports	O
the	O
gnutella	B-Protocol
,	O
Gnutella2	O
(	O
G2	O
)	O
,	O
eDonkey	O
,	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
,	O
FTP	B-Protocol
,	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
and	O
HTTPS	B-Protocol
network	O
protocols	O
and	O
handles	O
magnet	B-Protocol
links	I-Protocol
,	O
ed2k	B-Protocol
links	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
the	O
now	O
deprecated	O
gnutella	B-Protocol
and	O
Piolet	O
links	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Michael	B-Application
Stokes	I-Application
until	O
June	O
1	O
,	O
2004	O
,	O
and	O
has	O
since	O
been	O
maintained	O
by	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
volunteers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
June	O
1	O
,	O
2004	O
,	O
Shareaza	B-Application
2.0	O
was	O
released	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
(	O
GPL-2.0-or-later	B-License
)	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
can	O
connect	O
to	O
gnutella	B-Protocol
,	O
G2	O
,	O
eDonkey	O
and	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
hashes	B-Error_Name
its	O
files	O
for	O
all	O
networks	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
distributes	O
those	O
hash	B-Error_Name
values	I-Error_Name
on	O
G2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allows	O
Shareaza	B-Application
to	O
download	O
one	O
file	O
from	O
several	O
networks	O
at	O
once	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
another	O
client	O
connected	O
to	O
G2	O
finds	O
such	O
a	O
file	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
given	O
the	O
hash	B-Error_Name
values	I-Error_Name
for	O
all	O
networks	O
and	O
can	O
search	O
on	O
the	O
other	O
networks	O
with	O
their	O
respective	O
hash	B-Error_Name
values	I-Error_Name
,	O
which	O
increases	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
sources	O
and	O
the	O
download	O
speed	O
of	O
the	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
also	O
uses	O
its	O
G2	O
network	O
to	O
find	O
more	O
sources	O
for	O
torrents	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Shareaza	B-Application
client	O
has	O
some	O
basic	O
content	B-Protocol
filters	I-Protocol
including	O
a	O
forced	O
child	O
and	O
optional	O
adult	O
pornography	O
filter	O
,	O
and	O
some	O
other	O
optional	O
filters	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
filter	O
for	O
files	O
encumbered	O
with	O
Digital	O
rights	O
management	O
(	O
DRM	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
's	O
security	O
filters	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
extended	O
with	O
user-defined	O
keywords	O
and/or	O
IP	O
addresses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
versions	O
of	O
Shareaza	B-Application
allow	O
for	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
regular	B-Language
expressions	I-Language
and	O
filtering	O
by	O
hash	B-Error_Name
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
file	O
format	O
used	O
for	O
the	O
filters	O
is	O
an	O
extendable	O
XML	B-Language
schema	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
filters	O
are	O
editable	O
inside	O
Shareaza	B-Application
,	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
exported	O
from	O
the	O
application	O
to	O
be	O
shared	O
with	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
implements	O
a	O
framework	O
for	O
additional	O
plugins	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Shareaza	B-Application
installer	O
ships	O
several	O
plugins	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
of	O
them	O
are	O
used	O
to	O
read	O
and	O
strip	O
off	O
built	O
in	O
metadata	O
from	O
the	O
files	O
being	O
hashed	O
and	O
convert	O
it	O
to	O
an	O
external	O
XML	B-Protocol
based	O
format	O
,	O
or	O
to	O
decode	O
multimedia	O
files	O
for	O
making	O
a	O
preview	O
for	O
other	O
G2	O
clients	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
others	O
serve	O
the	O
need	O
of	O
a	O
media	O
player	O
inside	O
Shareaza	B-Application
,	O
and	O
enhancements	O
of	O
that	O
media	O
player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Third	B-General_Concept
party	I-General_Concept
plugins	B-Application
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
Sharemonkey	O
,	O
which	O
will	O
add	O
a	O
link	O
inside	O
Shareaza	B-Application
when	O
downloading	O
or	O
searching	O
copyrighted	O
material	O
from	O
where	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
legally	O
downloaded	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
client	O
can	O
have	O
almost	O
all	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
GUI	B-Application
skinned	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
that	O
way	O
,	O
Shareaza	B-Application
can	O
be	O
completely	O
changed	O
with	O
colors	O
,	O
images	O
,	O
new	O
buttons	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
basic	O
list	O
of	O
skins	O
is	O
contained	O
in	O
the	O
Shareaza	B-Application
installer	O
package	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
skins	O
can	O
be	O
downloaded	O
in	O
the	O
community	O
forums	O
or	O
found	O
via	O
a	O
search	O
for	O
.sks	O
(	O
Shareaza	B-Application
skin	O
files	O
)	O
in	O
the	O
G2	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
skins	O
are	O
zip	B-General_Concept
archives	I-General_Concept
,	O
renamed	O
with	O
the	O
extension	O
.sks	O
,	O
containing	O
icons	O
and	O
images	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
an	O
XML	B-Protocol
file	O
which	O
binds	O
the	O
images	O
and	O
colors	O
with	O
the	O
GUI	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
feature	O
is	O
also	O
used	O
for	O
localization	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
language	O
files	O
are	O
XML	B-Protocol
files	O
,	O
like	O
the	O
normal	O
skins	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
zipped	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
XML	B-Protocol
file	O
contains	O
the	O
translations	O
for	O
a	O
certain	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
has	O
three	O
user	O
modes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
mode	O
is	O
the	O
default	O
mode	O
and	O
provides	O
a	O
clean	O
,	O
trimmed	O
GUI	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
second	O
mode	O
is	O
for	O
power	B-General_Concept
users	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
contains	O
a	O
built-in	O
IRC	B-Protocol
(	O
chat	O
)	O
client	O
which	O
allows	O
users	O
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
each	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
channels	O
are	O
located	O
on	O
the	O
and	O
can	O
also	O
by	O
joined	O
by	O
any	O
normal	O
IRC	B-Protocol
client	O
or	O
via	O
a	O
Java	B-Device
addon	O
on	O
the	O
Shareaza	B-Application
homepage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
mid-2002	O
Stokes	O
released	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
a	O
gnutella	B-Protocol
client	O
he	O
had	O
written	O
and	O
dubbed	O
"	O
Shareaza	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
from	O
the	O
beginning	O
a	O
client	O
with	O
the	O
aim	O
of	O
having	O
features	O
other	O
gnutella	B-Protocol
clients	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
the	O
next	O
two	O
years	O
Stokes	O
coded	O
in	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
eDonkey	O
2000	O
network	O
,	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
and	O
a	O
rewritten	O
gnutella-based	O
protocol	O
which	O
he	O
named	O
Gnutella2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
June	O
1	O
,	O
2004	O
Stokes	O
released	O
the	O
Shareaza	B-Application
source	O
code	O
under	O
the	O
GPL-2.0-or-later	B-License
license	O
(	O
which	O
coincided	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Shareaza	B-Application
version	O
2.0	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
joined	O
LimeWire	B-Application
,	O
Gnucleus	O
,	O
and	O
others	O
as	O
an	O
open	O
source	O
client	O
on	O
the	O
gnutella	B-Protocol
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
beginning	O
Shareaza	B-Application
was	O
advertised	O
as	O
"	O
completely	O
free	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
Shareaza	B-Application
has	O
supported	O
swarming	O
,	O
metadata	O
,	O
library	O
management	O
,	O
and	O
automatic	O
file	B-Error_Name
hashing	I-Error_Name
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
19	O
December	O
2007	O
the	O
project	O
's	O
domain	O
name	O
,	O
shareaza.com,	O
was	O
redirected	O
to	O
a	O
site	O
claiming	O
to	O
be	O
"	O
The	O
Official	O
Home	O
of	O
Shareaza	B-Application
"	O
,	O
promoting	O
the	O
download	O
of	O
a	O
client	O
known	O
as	O
Shareaza	B-Application
V4	O
(	O
which	O
had	O
become	O
V6	O
in	O
October	O
2009	O
,	O
V7	O
in	O
August	O
2010	O
,	O
and	O
V8	O
)	O
unrelated	O
to	O
releases	O
by	O
the	O
Shareaza	B-Application
development	O
team	O
,	O
an	O
iMesh	B-Protocol
clone	O
with	O
only	O
small	O
graphical	O
modifications	O
,	O
and	O
using	O
Shareaza	B-Application
v1	O
logo	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
client	O
is	O
a	O
network	O
interface	O
for	O
a	O
centralised	O
music	O
shop	O
by	O
Discordia	O
Ltd.	O
,	O
and	O
does	O
not	O
connect	O
to	O
any	O
open	O
P2P	O
network	O
such	O
as	O
gnutella	B-Protocol
,	O
G2	O
,	O
eDonkey	O
or	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Content	O
is	O
limited	O
to	O
the	O
DRM-protected	O
music	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
bought	O
in	O
Discordia	O
's	O
online	O
music	O
store	O
;	O
Discordia	O
is	O
a	O
company	O
based	O
in	O
Cyprus	O
,	O
closely	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
RIAA	O
and	O
unrelated	O
to	O
the	O
Shareaza	B-Application
development	O
team	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
the	O
Shareaza	B-Application
development	O
team	O
moved	O
their	O
website	O
to	O
SourceForge	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Versions	O
prior	O
to	O
2.3.1.0	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
Shareaza	B-Application
connected	O
to	O
www.shareaza.com	O
to	O
check	O
for	O
software	O
updates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
1	O
January	O
2008	O
the	O
new	O
owner	O
of	O
the	O
domain	O
shareaza.com,	O
Discordia	O
Ltd	O
.	O
used	O
this	O
update	O
check	O
mechanism	O
to	O
suggest	O
to	O
users	O
that	O
ShareazaV4	O
(	O
and	O
later	O
ShareazaV5	O
,	O
V6	O
,	O
and	O
V7	O
)	O
was	O
an	O
update	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
Shareaza	B-Application
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
version	O
2.3.1.0	O
,	O
released	O
on	O
3	O
January	O
2008	O
,	O
the	O
original	O
Shareaza	B-Application
has	O
linked	O
to	O
the	O
Shareaza	B-Application
pages	O
at	O
sourceforge.net	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
10	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
the	O
new	O
owners	O
of	O
Shareaza.com,	O
Discordia	O
Ltd	O
(	O
iMesh	B-Protocol
Inc	O
.	O
)	O
,	O
filed	O
for	O
trademark	O
registration	O
of	O
the	O
Shareaza	B-Application
name	O
in	O
an	O
attempt	O
to	O
stop	O
the	O
original	O
developers	O
from	O
using	O
the	O
name	O
,	O
claiming	O
that	O
the	O
first-ever	O
use	O
was	O
on	O
December	O
17	O
,	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Shareaza	B-Application
Development	O
Team	O
obtained	O
legal	O
representation	O
to	O
challenge	O
the	O
registration	O
and	O
a	O
legal	O
defense	O
fund	O
was	O
set	O
up	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
development	O
team	O
appointed	O
William	O
Erwin	O
to	O
handle	O
the	O
donations	O
;	O
it	O
was	O
stated	O
that	O
he	O
had	O
been	O
paid	O
by	O
iMesh	B-Protocol
to	O
sabotage	O
the	O
defense	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
he	O
had	O
stolen	O
the	O
money	O
donated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
trademark	O
was	O
awarded	O
to	O
iMesh	B-Protocol
after	O
the	O
development	O
team	O
had	O
given	O
up	O
defending	O
the	O
trademark	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Release	O
notes	O
for	O
all	O
versions	O
from	O
2.0.0.0	O
are	O
linked	O
from	O
the	O
Sharaza	B-Application
ChangeLog	O
page	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
2.3.1.0	O
is	O
the	O
last	O
stable	O
version	O
of	O
Shareaza	B-Application
that	O
supports	O
Windows	O
9x	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
followed	O
2	O
days	O
after	O
the	O
new	O
owners	O
of	O
the	O
project	O
domain	O
exploited	O
the	O
updating	O
mechanism	O
to	O
emit	O
a	O
false	O
update	O
message	O
to	O
trick	O
users	O
into	O
installing	O
their	O
fake	O
Shareaza	B-Application
V4	O
client	O
,	O
and	O
contained	O
a	O
fix	O
for	O
this	O
issue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
2.4.0.0	O
of	O
Shareaza	B-Application
was	O
released	O
on	O
October	O
1	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
with	O
many	O
bug	O
fixes	O
and	O
major	O
changes	O
to	O
provide	O
better	O
stability	O
of	O
the	O
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
stable	O
release	O
to	O
include	O
IRC	B-Protocol
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
major	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
torrent	B-Protocol
handling	O
mechanism	O
were	O
made	O
and	O
Windows	O
98/Me	O
support	O
was	O
discontinued	O
(	O
the	O
last	O
version	O
working	O
on	O
Windows	O
9x	O
is	O
2.3.1.0	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
2.5.0.0	O
of	O
Shareaza	B-Application
was	O
released	O
on	O
October	O
31	O
,	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
significantly	O
more	O
stable	O
and	O
less	O
resource-consuming	O
than	O
earlier	O
versions	O
,	O
and	O
further	O
improved	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
support	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
by	O
selective	O
downloading	O
of	O
files	O
contained	O
in	O
batch	O
torrents	B-Protocol
and	O
download	O
prioritization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
also	O
updates	O
to	O
the	O
gnutella	B-Protocol
and	O
eD2k	B-Protocol
implementation	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
extended	O
support	O
for	O
GGEP	O
,	O
large	O
files	O
and	O
chat	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IRC	B-Protocol
implementation	O
of	O
v2.4.0.0	O
was	O
reworked	O
to	O
free	O
it	O
of	O
the	O
bugs	O
that	O
made	O
it	O
partially	O
unusable	O
in	O
the	O
previous	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Download	O
manager	O
capabilities	O
were	O
extended	O
,	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
integration	O
added	O
,	O
and	O
BugTrap	O
included	O
to	O
speed	O
up	O
and	O
simplify	O
reporting	O
crashes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
2.5.1.0	O
of	O
Shareaza	B-Application
was	O
released	O
on	O
December	O
1	O
,	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
improved	O
usability	O
and	O
compatibility	O
of	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
according	O
to	O
most	O
popular	O
service	O
suggestions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
made	O
use	O
of	O
and	O
required	O
the	O
SSE	B-General_Concept
instruction	O
set	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
required	O
at	O
least	O
a	O
Pentium-III	B-General_Concept
or	O
an	O
Athlon-XP	O
processor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
2.5.2.0	O
of	O
Shareaza	B-Application
was	O
released	O
on	O
February	O
6	O
,	O
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
and	O
later	O
versions	O
were	O
available	O
optionally	O
either	O
as	O
an	O
SSE	B-General_Concept
or	O
non-SSE	O
build	O
to	O
allow	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
older	O
processors	O
,	O
unlike	O
the	O
SSE-only	O
version	O
2.5.1.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
this	O
and	O
later	O
releases	O
the	O
SSE-optimized	O
build	O
uses	O
SSE2	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
requires	O
at	O
least	O
a	O
Pentium	B-General_Concept
4	I-General_Concept
or	O
AMD	O
Athlon	O
64	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
v2.5.3.0	O
,	O
released	O
on	O
June	O
13	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
focused	O
on	O
internal	O
changes	O
and	O
optimizations	O
;	O
the	O
only	O
significant	O
addition	O
was	O
a	O
scheduler	O
that	O
allows	O
full	O
control	O
over	O
what	O
the	O
application	O
does	O
at	O
a	O
given	O
time	O
while	O
running	O
unattended	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
v2.5.4.0	O
,	O
released	O
on	O
February	O
12	O
,	O
2011	O
,	O
improved	O
UPnP	B-Application
support	O
and	O
added	O
limited	O
DC++	B-Language
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
μTorrent-compatible	O
peer	O
exchange	O
and	O
tracker	O
exchange	O
for	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
were	O
also	O
added	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
fixed	O
remaining	O
IRC	B-Protocol
chat	I-Protocol
bugs	O
and	O
a	O
lot	O
of	O
rather	O
uncommon/rarely	O
seen	O
crashes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
v2.5.5.0	O
,	O
released	O
on	O
May	O
29	O
,	O
2011	O
,	O
further	O
improved	O
UPnP	B-Application
support	O
and	O
included	O
DC++	B-Language
and	O
gnutella	B-Protocol
updates	O
,	O
enhanced	O
anti-spam	O
protection	O
during	O
searches	O
,	O
and	O
multi-file	O
download	O
merging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
V2.6.0.0	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
3	O
June	O
2012	O
,	O
adding	O
support	O
for	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
(	O
Mainline	O
)	O
DHT	O
and	O
UDP	O
trackers	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
containing	O
interface	O
optimizations	O
for	O
Windows	O
7	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shareaza	B-Application
2.7.0.0	O
was	O
made	O
available	O
on	O
31	O
August	O
2013	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
great	O
many	O
bugfixes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
contained	O
major	O
improvements	O
to	O
the	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
support	O
,	O
eDonkey	O
uploading	O
and	O
the	O
built-in	O
media	O
player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2008	O
,	O
Shareaza	B-Application
was	O
SourceForge	B-Application
Project	O
of	O
the	O
Month	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2009	O
Shareaza	B-Application
was	O
ranked	O
number	O
5	O
in	O
SourceForge.Net	B-Application
'	O
s	O
"	O
What	O
's	O
Hot	O
for	O
Windows	O
?	O
"	O
</s>
