<s>
WinMX	B-Protocol
(	O
Windows	O
Music	O
Exchange	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
freeware	B-License
peer-to-peer	O
file	O
sharing	O
program	O
authored	O
in	O
2000	O
by	O
Kevin	O
Hearn	O
(	O
president	O
of	O
Frontcode	B-Protocol
Technologies	I-Protocol
)	O
in	O
Windsor	O
,	O
Ontario	O
(	O
Canada	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Frontcode	B-Protocol
Technologies	I-Protocol
itself	O
abandoned	O
development	O
of	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
in	O
September	O
2005	O
,	O
but	O
developers	O
brought	O
the	O
service	O
back	O
online	O
within	O
a	O
few	O
days	O
by	O
releasing	O
patches	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WinMX	B-Protocol
continues	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
a	O
community	O
of	O
enthusiasts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kevin	O
Hearn	O
released	O
Tixati	B-Protocol
in	O
2009	O
and	O
Fopnu	O
in	O
2017	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fopnu	O
is	O
a	O
client	O
and	O
a	O
network	O
with	O
some	O
similarities	O
to	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
WinMX	B-Protocol
began	O
its	O
life	O
as	O
an	O
OpenNAP	O
client	O
capable	O
of	O
connecting	O
to	O
several	O
servers	O
simultaneously	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Frontcode	B-Protocol
Technologies	I-Protocol
later	O
created	O
a	O
proprietary	B-Application
protocol	O
,	O
termed	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
Peer	O
Network	O
Protocol	O
(	O
WPNP	B-Protocol
)	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
used	O
starting	O
with	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
2	O
in	O
May	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Frontcode	B-Protocol
Technologies	I-Protocol
had	O
operated	O
several	O
peer	O
cache	O
servers	O
to	O
aid	O
WPNP	B-Protocol
network	O
operation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
program	O
houses	O
a	O
few	O
built-in	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
bandwidth	B-Algorithm
monitoring	O
,	O
short	O
messaging	O
,	O
and	O
hosting	O
chatrooms	O
and	O
functions	O
as	O
an	O
OpenNap	O
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
transfers	O
start	O
,	O
each	O
has	O
the	O
option	O
of	O
selecting	O
bandwidth	B-Algorithm
for	O
the	O
other	O
to	O
make	O
sure	O
both	O
transfers	O
end	O
more	O
or	O
less	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
September	O
13	O
,	O
2005	O
,	O
Frontcode	B-Protocol
Technologies	I-Protocol
received	O
a	O
cease	O
and	O
desist	O
letter	O
from	O
the	O
Recording	O
Industry	O
Association	O
of	O
America	O
demanding	O
that	O
they	O
either	O
implement	O
filters	O
to	O
make	O
it	O
impossible	O
for	O
users	O
to	O
download	O
copyrighted	O
material	O
from	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
,	O
or	O
shut	O
down	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
September	O
21	O
,	O
2005	O
,	O
the	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
homepage	O
and	O
Frontcode	O
Technologies'''	O
peer	O
cache	O
servers	O
(	O
central	O
servers	O
essential	O
for	O
the	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
Peer	O
Network	O
)	O
went	O
offline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
September	O
23	O
,	O
2005	O
,	O
users	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
download	O
two	O
unofficial	O
patches	O
for	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
from	O
two	O
unrelated	O
websites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
patches	O
worked	O
by	O
modifying	O
the	O
DNS	B-Protocol
lookup	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
uses	O
to	O
find	O
peer	O
caches	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
tries	O
to	O
find	O
the	O
Frontcode	B-Protocol
Technologies	I-Protocol
 '	O
peer	O
caches	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
instead	O
directed	O
to	O
look	O
up	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
peer	O
caches	O
set	O
up	O
by	O
the	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
communities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Known	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
Community	O
Patch	O
"	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
created	O
through	O
the	O
joint	O
effort	O
of	O
an	O
independent	O
,	O
third-party	O
programmer	O
and	O
the	O
cooperative	O
input	O
and	O
testing	O
from	O
the	O
two	O
communities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Supported	O
and	O
available	O
for	O
download	O
by	O
both	O
groups	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
intended	O
to	O
replace	O
the	O
previous	O
patches	O
being	O
used	O
,	O
allowing	O
all	O
users	O
to	O
once	O
again	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
single	O
set	O
of	O
peer	O
caches	O
,	O
unifying	O
all	O
users	O
for	O
the	O
first	O
time	O
since	O
the	O
official	O
closure	O
of	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
in	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Commencing	O
in	O
May	O
2011	O
,	O
the	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
network	O
had	O
been	O
under	O
protocol	O
level	O
attack	O
from	O
a	O
disgruntled	O
community	O
developer	O
(	O
program	O
hacker	O
)	O
who	O
disagreed	O
with	O
those	O
operating	O
the	O
network	O
support	O
infrastructure	O
(	O
user	O
support	O
forums	O
&	O
peer	O
cache	O
operators	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
those	O
attacks	O
the	O
WPNP	B-Protocol
network	O
searches	O
would	O
return	O
random	O
query	O
results	O
(	O
alongside	O
relevant	O
results	O
)	O
that	O
were	O
unrelated	O
to	O
the	O
specific	O
term	O
searched	O
for	O
,	O
and	O
also	O
users	O
were	O
unable	O
to	O
receive	O
a	O
full	O
chat	O
room	O
list	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
web	O
based	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
Chat	O
Room	O
List	O
was	O
set	O
up	O
for	O
users	O
to	O
retrieve	O
a	O
full	O
room	O
list	O
,	O
and	O
also	O
offered	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
manually	O
add	O
chat	O
rooms	O
to	O
the	O
web	O
list	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
offering	O
a	O
live	O
list	O
of	O
chat	O
rooms	O
,	O
it	O
also	O
offered	O
a	O
one	O
click	O
solution	O
for	O
joining	O
chat	O
rooms	O
in	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
via	O
the	O
web	O
page	O
itself	O
with	O
the	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
Link	O
Handler	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2009	O
,	O
Kevin	O
Hearn	O
released	O
Tixati	B-Protocol
,	O
an	O
ad-free	O
freeware	B-License
P2P	O
file	O
sharing	O
program	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
BitTorrent	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
,	O
enhanced	O
with	O
a	O
channels	O
function	O
where	O
users	O
can	O
chat	O
,	O
share	O
lists	O
of	O
web	O
and	O
media	O
links	O
,	O
stream	O
audio	O
and	O
video	B-General_Concept
media	O
,	O
with	O
all	O
communications	O
being	O
encrypted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2017	O
,	O
Kevin	O
Hearn	O
released	O
Fopnu	O
,	O
a	O
client	O
and	O
network	O
with	O
some	O
similarities	O
to	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fopnu	O
is	O
a	O
decentralized	O
network	O
with	O
the	O
latest	O
advances	O
in	O
P2P	O
technology	O
,	O
pure	O
UDP	B-Protocol
and	O
with	O
all	O
communications	O
being	O
encrypted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ad-free	O
freeware	B-License
client	O
includes	O
chat	O
rooms	O
,	O
contacts	O
list	O
(	O
with	O
private	O
messages	O
)	O
,	O
search	O
windows	O
,	O
browsing	O
of	O
a	O
contact	O
's	O
library	O
and	O
creation	O
of	O
contacts	O
groups	O
(	O
to	O
control	O
access	O
to	O
your	O
library	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sharing	O
massive	O
amounts	O
of	O
files	O
is	O
much	O
easier	O
(	O
than	O
creating	O
a	O
lot	O
of	O
Torrent	B-Protocol
files	O
)	O
and	O
has	O
very	O
little	O
overhead	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
runs	O
on	O
Linux	O
under	O
Wine	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
get	O
started	O
,	O
users	O
connect	O
to	O
the	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
Peer	O
Network''	O
(	O
WPN	O
)	O
either	O
as	O
a	O
primary	O
or	O
secondary	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
majority	O
of	O
the	O
functions	O
on	O
the	O
WPN	O
are	O
available	O
to	O
both	O
users	O
,	O
but	O
primary	O
users	O
need	O
to	O
spend	O
more	O
bandwidth	B-Algorithm
,	O
tend	O
to	O
have	O
better	O
connections	O
,	O
and	O
have	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
host	O
chat	O
rooms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Secondary	O
users	O
use	O
very	O
little	O
idle	O
bandwidth	B-Algorithm
,	O
but	O
their	O
prolonged	O
connection	O
to	O
the	O
network	O
is	O
not	O
always	O
stable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WinMX	B-Protocol
users	O
can	O
share	O
nearly	O
every	O
type	O
of	O
file	O
using	O
the	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
common	O
file	O
types	O
such	O
as	O
audio	O
,	O
video	B-General_Concept
,	O
images	O
,	O
and	O
archive	B-General_Concept
files	O
are	O
available	O
by	O
default	O
,	O
and	O
all	O
others	O
could	O
be	O
configured	O
in	O
the	O
program	O
's	O
settings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WinMX	B-Protocol
has	O
a	O
file-size	O
restriction	O
limiting	O
shared	O
files	O
to	O
2GB	O
in	O
size	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
search	O
for	O
almost	O
any	O
file	O
in	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
a	O
file	O
is	O
found	O
,	O
the	O
hash	B-Error_Name
of	O
the	O
file	O
along	O
with	O
IP	O
address	O
and	O
Primary	O
node	O
details	O
of	O
the	O
user	O
with	O
the	O
file	O
is	O
sent	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
who	O
made	O
the	O
search	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Searches	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
made	O
with	O
hashes	B-Error_Name
instead	O
of	O
words	O
and	O
numbers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WinMX	B-Protocol
allows	O
a	O
person	O
to	O
host	O
chatrooms	O
with	O
its	O
built-in	O
Chat	O
function	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
its	O
height	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
typically	O
had	O
around	O
1,500	O
to	O
2,000	O
chatrooms	O
at	O
any	O
given	O
time	O
in	O
a	O
multitude	O
of	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WinMX	B-Protocol
also	O
allows	O
its	O
users	O
to	O
message	O
each	O
other	O
using	O
its	O
Private	O
Message	O
function	O
regardless	O
of	O
whether	O
or	O
not	O
they	O
were	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
chat	O
room	O
or	O
are	O
downloading	O
from/uploading	O
to	O
each	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WinMX	B-Protocol
started	O
out	O
as	O
a	O
Peer-to-Peer	O
program	O
that	O
connected	O
to	O
OpenNap	O
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WinMX	B-Protocol
is	O
natively	O
English	O
,	O
but	O
language	O
files	O
can	O
be	O
installed	O
to	O
translate	O
menus	O
into	O
the	O
following	O
languages	O
:	O
Chinese	O
,	O
Dutch	O
,	O
Finnish	O
,	O
French	O
,	O
German	O
,	O
Greek	O
,	O
Hungarian	O
,	O
Italian	O
,	O
Japanese	O
,	O
Norwegian	O
,	O
Polish	O
,	O
Portuguese	O
,	O
Russian	O
,	O
Sardinian	O
,	O
Spanish	O
and	O
Swedish	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2002	O
,	O
the	O
Recording	O
Industry	O
Association	O
of	O
Japan	O
releases	O
a	O
report	O
finding	O
84%	O
of	O
Japanese	O
who	O
had	O
used	O
file	O
sharing	O
software	O
reported	O
using	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
,	O
mainly	O
to	O
share	O
J-pop	O
mp3	B-Application
's	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WinMX	B-Protocol
continued	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
main	O
file	O
sharing	O
client	O
in	O
Japan	O
until	O
it	O
was	O
overtaken	O
by	O
Winny	B-Protocol
and	O
LimeWire	B-Application
in	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
as	O
late	O
as	O
2013	O
,	O
Palo	O
Alto	O
Networks	O
was	O
finding	O
that	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
was	O
the	O
6th	O
most	O
popular	O
network	O
in	O
Japan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
program	O
and	O
patches	O
,	O
developers	O
and	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
users	O
created	O
third	O
party	O
programs	O
to	O
either	O
enhance	O
the	O
chat	O
room	O
function	O
or	O
to	O
control	O
uploading	O
by	O
other	O
peers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
was	O
made	O
by	O
third-party	O
developers	O
for	O
use	O
in	O
the	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
chat	O
rooms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
plugins	O
performed	O
automatic	O
functions	O
including	O
displaying	O
music	O
files	O
currently	O
playing	O
on	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
computer	O
and	O
aid	O
in	O
posting	O
colored	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
pictures	O
in	O
rooms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
improved	O
administration	O
systems	O
in	O
third	O
party	O
servers	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
host	O
a	O
chat	O
room	O
without	O
having	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
winmx	B-Protocol
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
normal	O
users	O
,	O
chat	O
clients	O
or	O
the	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
client	O
itself	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
view	O
rooms	O
independently	O
of	O
the	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
initial	O
project	O
called	O
WinPY	O
attempted	O
to	O
make	O
a	O
replacement	O
open	O
source	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
project	O
announced	O
on	O
a	O
major	O
WinMX	B-Protocol
community	O
site	O
was	O
initially	O
scheduled	O
to	O
be	O
released	O
in	O
November	O
2012	O
,	O
however	O
there	O
were	O
many	O
published	O
delays	O
due	O
to	O
lack	O
of	O
skilled	O
programming	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
