Windows only: Free, open-source application Halite is a BitTorrent client with a focus on a small memory footprint. With Halite running and actively downloading on my system, I never saw the memory usage crest 10MB of RAM—which, as BitTorrent weblog TorrentFreak points out, is about half the memory consumption of the popular-for-its-small-footprint uTorrent. Granted, Halite doesn't have near the advanced features of uTorrent, but it does support most basic features, like encryption and selective file downloading. If all you want is a no-nonsense BitTorrent client that can grab your downloads with the best of them, Halite may be just what you need. Halite is free, Windows only.

The p2p-next project, which is trying to develop a system for broadcasting video user peer-to-peer file sharing, has released the first version of its SwarmPlayer and is seeking testers to assess how the software performs as the user base grows. There's currently only a small amount of content to watch (including a BBC weather report live webcam from Amsterdam), since the purpose is testing rather than creating a broadcast network. SwarmPlayer is currently Windows and Linux, but a Mac version is said to be due shortly. [SwarmPlayer via BBC]

The TorrentFreak weblog wants to speed up your BitTorrent downloads with practical advice for getting around your firewall and managing your upload speed. They're mostly beginner tips, so you may also want to try more advanced techniques as well.

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YouTorrent, the BitTorrent search aggregator with a great interface that proved too popular to stay online with a, er, laissez-faire attitude about legality, has re-launched as a meta-search for legal downloads. Grabbing results of verified legal or open-licensed downloads from Jamendo, BitTorrent, Mininova, and others, the site moves as quickly as ever, lets you sort results by relevance, date, or feed statistics, and offers previews of audio files through the Bitlet streaming tool. It's not quite the hyper-organized bazaar of torrents it once was, but if you're looking for something that might be genuinely free to grab, YouTorrent seems like a great place to start.

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Web site Speckly is a barebones BitTorrent search engine that scours multiple popular torrent trackers and returns the results in a simple interface. In fact, you'll notice the site's design is a direct knock off of Google, but it has a few subtle tweaks for BitTorrent. Like previously mentioned torrent aggregator PizzaTorrent, Speckly also allows you to sort results by file type, and according to weblog Mashable, the ad-free site will remain ad-free—an accomplishment for the often pop-up-ridden world of BitTorrent trackers. If you need more robust filtering, we'd recommend PizzaTorrent, but if simplicity is what you're looking for, Speckly looks like a winner.

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Windows/Mac only: Free, open-source application Cabos is a peer-to-peer file sharing application with an emphasis on minimalism. That means that unlike other popular P2P apps that run on the Gnutella network like LimeWire or previously mentioned FrostWire, Cabos is completely stripped down and bloat free. Granted, you've probably moved on to downloading files with BitTorrent for most of your file-sharing needs, but for the occasional one-off download, an old-school peer-to-peer app like Cabos is always nice to have in the toolbox.

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Postica's a latecomer to the free online sticky notes arena, but it carries with it a few neat features that set it apart. First and foremost is the ability to attach any kind of file (up to 5 MB) to a sticky note, and then send that note to a friend, whether or not they have an account. Secondly, Twitter users can share notes and create new notes on their board, even designating the colour, by direct-message postica. For organising a multi-file project by yourself or in a group, Postica's a simple but attractive option. Postica is free to use, requires a sign-up.

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Give web site TorrentRelay the URL of any torrent on the internet and it'll automatically download it for you through your web browser. Not only does that mean that you can download files over BitTorrent without installing a new BitTorrent client if you're on someone else's computer, but it also means you can download torrents directly to hardware that doesn't support BitTorrent clients, like your Wii, PS3, or even iPhone. Currently TorrentRelay downloads are limited to 400MB. For a similar solution, check out previously mentioned BitLet.

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Windows only: Adam already walked you through how to download music from your friends' iTunes libraries over the internet using Mojo on the Mac, and now Windows users can get in on the fun. Install the Mojo 2.0 beta for Windows, set up an account, and swap Mojo usernames with your friends to populate your buddy list. From there you can browse their playlists, search their libraries, play and download any songs to your computer. The Mojo Windows beta is a free download; upgrade to Mojo Pro to get an unlimited buddy list. Thanks Matt and Jack!

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Windows only: Want to direct your non-torrent-savvy friends or relatives to a download they really need to check out? Free web utility Torrent2Exe takes torrent download links—the kind you'd normally pass to your favourite BitTorrent client—and creates tiny .exe programs that do all the download work for whoever double-clicks them. You can also grab a link to post on your own site (or Twitter stream) that lets others download the same self-running torrent grabber. Great for distributing your own files to a select group of downloaders, or helping Linux-curious friends grab the right disk images. Torrent2Exe's downloaders are for Windows systems only.

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