Transmission is a free bittorrent program that I have used for months on my iMac (and recently, my Macbook Pro) without any problems.

The total amount of files I’ve downloaded with Transmission comes up to a few GB in size (as I write this) and the program is able to resume downloads reliably, even when I move the torrent and partially downloaded files to a different folder.

The dmg installation file is about 2.8 MB.

To install, double-click on the DMG file, and then drag the Transmission program into the Applications folder (or any other folder of your choice):

For added convenience, you can drag the application into the Dock, which creates a shortcut, and launch from there:

Here’s a screen capture of a running Transmission session:

Another great feature of Transmission is that it lets you select specific, individual files in a torrent for download. In the example screenshot below, I only wanted to download the “Theme For Young Lovers” mp3 file in the “The Shadows – Simply The Best” torrent.

Here’s a sample of the Theme for Young Lovers tune I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Miscellaneous observations and impressions

Don’t close the lid on your MacBook during downloads

My MacBook Pro goes to sleep whenever I close the lid, and this will stop all running programs, including Transmission. So, keep that lid up (or just slightly opened) if you want your torrent downloads to continue.

There is a setting in Preferences to prevent computer from sleeping while active transfers are taking place, and this is switched on by default, but it won’t stop your MacBook from going into Standby mode if you close the lid.

The good thing though, is that your screen will go to sleep after the designated time, as it usually does if there’s no keyboard or mouse input activity.

BitTorrent resources

One of the best podcasts on using Macs with BitTorrents is Steve Stanger’s The Mac Attack Episode #90 – check it out.