New BitTorrent client codenamed Chrysalis goes into alpha

"Chrysalis is a major change for BitTorrent – a metamorphosis of features and style," a BitTorrent spokesperson said in a statement. "The goal is make downloading torrents easier, intuitive and more streamlined, while retaining all of the power and sophistication you currently enjoy at the core. While this first version is intended to testing and vetting the overhauled user interface, more features are coming soon. Stay tuned."

The new software is only currently available as an English version that requires a Windows environment running IE8. If you want more information, check out the new BitTorrent forums to give feedback. There's also a survey you can take to help out.

BitTorrent is planning to replace its mainline client (µTorrent will live on as the minimal client) with Project Chrysalis. The new all-in-one solution for media entertainment will be part of the BitTorrent Certified technology ecosystem, or at least that's BitTorrent's vision.

Two months ago, the company announced that BitTorrent and µTorrent hit 100 million monthly users. On an average day, 20 million users from over 220 countries use either of the two BitTorrent clients, available in 52 languages, and 400,000 new clients are downloaded every day.