Tixati News


January 25, 2012

Tixati version 1.83 is now available.

This update contains numerous improvements to the Channels as well as other areas:
  • configurable default user name
  • UDP hole-punching for channel connections
  • channel command menu for all user levels
  • ability to turn off join and leave notifications with /notify [on/off]
  • no join notifications upon initial channel connection
  • purging does not drop users with locally set recommended level or mod authority
  • channel local share data can be mirrored anywhere by using ##mirror:dsc:<channel-hash>
  • ##mirror directives can specify refresh time by adding &ttl=<minutes>
  • timing in /banold and /updateall commands now allow 10 minute overlap to prevent chat distruptions
  • channel connections rejected due to time mismatch are now clearly identified
  • copying text from browse, information, or chat windows now includes expanded magnet/web links
  • tooltip over "Channel List" in window list now includes channel count, last gather, and other details
  • more reliable channels list gathering
  • partially downloaded browse / channel info display formatting is much cleaner
  • better search result formatting for untitled web-links and hash-only magnet links
  • ##MOTD directives allow part of channel info to be displayed in chat upon entry
  • DHT strengthened to work around poorly-implemented clients confused by asymetric-NAT
  • better offline-detection and recovery prioritization for DHT searches
  • SOCKS and HTTP proxy connections now support SSL/HTTPS
  • download completion notification balloon clicks can optionally open containing folder (see UI>Behavior)
  • new settings for channel default timestamping, join/leave notify, and username
  • several other minor user-interface improvements and bug-fixes


January 6, 2012

Tixati version 1.82 is now available.

This version introduces Decentralized Sharing Channels.  These allow you to share, search, and chat with other users in purely decentralized channels that anyone can create.

Other changes include:
  • vastly improved magnet-link creation options
  • all GUI fonts fully adjustable
  • improved configuration file storage and fail-safe procedures
  • several DHT fixes and improvements
  • much better PEX performance in torrents with very few users
  • updated IP-Country database
  • protocol compatibility improvements related to super-seeding
  • improved behavior of tray-icon notifications
  • new transfer columns "Created" and "Completed"
  • wider Linux binary compatibility (eliminated libstdc++ dependencies)
  • updated Linux 64-bit machine-code optimizations for faster performance
  • numerous other minor fixes and improvements throughout the GUI and core


January 3, 2012

Version 1.81 Beta-1 is now available for testing.  This new version features Decentralized Sharing Channels that allow you to chat and share with other users in decentralized swarms.  Several other minor improvements and fixes have been made.



October 2, 2011
Tixati version 1.74 is now available.

This is a minor update that offers improved tracker compatibility.  A few minor GUI glitches have also been fixed.



October 1, 2011
Tixati version 1.73 is now available.

The DHT implementation has been fully revised for this version, and now includes full IPv6 support that complies with the BEP-32 standard for IPv6 DHT operations.  Several other major DHT improvements have been made, including much faster searches, better node table management, better resistance to eclipse attacks on the network, and better resistance to IPv4 cache-flooding problems caused by interactions between symmetric NAT routers and other poorly-written clients.  Both IPv4 and IPv6 tables now have multiple bootstrap nodes available for smooth entry into the network after fresh installation or if all cached nodes are lost.

The HTTPS protocol is now supported on tracker and RSS feed connections.  This includes all common versions and ciphers of SSL/TLS.

Trackers within transfers have been optimized to consume much less CPU in aggregate, even if you have several thousand operating concurrently.

Additional user-configurable rules have been added to the Auto-Limit feature.  It is now possible to add rules that cause throttle changes when pings are completely lost, which helps avoid congestive-collapse on some types of internet connections.

Several important bug-fixes and performance improvements have been made to the way Tixati interacts with the network.  UDP Peer Connections should now perform even faster and offer improved reliability.  Outgoing TCP connections to SOCKS/HTTP proxies are also much more reliable now, and have been fully tested with TOR and SSH clients in both Windows and Linux.

Several other minor user-interface glitches and bugs have been fixed.

Enjoy the new version!



 September 1, 2011
Tixati version 1.72 has been officially released. This version contains several important performance upgrades and many other fixes and improvements.

UDP Peer Connections

Tixati now supports UDP Peer Connections. Our implementation is fully compatible with other clients, but also contains many key improvements to provide vastly better congestion avoidance characteristics, better security, TCP friendliness, and much higher top speed. We have experienced very good results in both emulated and real-world network environments, under a wide array of loss, re-ordering, and delay conditions.

Several new options have been added to Settings > Network > Connections. These allow control over protocol preference and connection timing, including the ability to fully disable TCP or UDP peer connections.

A UPC monitor has been added to the diagnostic tools. This shows a list of all connections including detailed statistics, as well as charts of congestion window sizes, round-trip times, time stamp data, and loss rates.

A UPC log window has also been added to the diagnostic tools. This can optionally log several aspects of socket operation, including raw packets.

UDP Hole-Punching

Tixati now supports incoming and outgoing UDP hole-punching, compatible with all other clients supporting the common "ut_holepunch" extension. This alleviates the need to map an incoming port through broadband routers and firewalls that use network address translation (NAT).

New PEX Core

The PEX (Peer EXchange) engine has been completely rebuilt from scratch. This was needed for optimal operation of UDP Hole-Punching, and should perform much better than previous versions. A much higher connection success rate is now achieved due to these changes.

New Throttle Timing Core

The engine that controls the timing and spacing of both UDP and TCP packets has been re-engineered to raise the minimum packet size under heavy bandwidth restriction. This helps improve throughput by maximizing the average ratio of packet data to packet header.

CPU usage under heavy throttling should be a bit lower now as the throttle now works under a single-pass algorithm as opposed to the previous multi-pass system which would need to repeat many times per cycle.

New Base Sockets Event Notifiers

The Linux event mechanism for sockets is now EPOLL-based instead of the old Realtime-Signals system. This allows events to be processed with far fewer system calls and switches between threads.

Both the Windows and Linux event mechanisms are now mostly lock-free, which also eliminates many system calls.

Multi-Priority Task Engine

The way in which Tixati handles it's various background duties has now been organized into priority levels. This means that low-priority tasks (such as offline-checking file pieces) will not interfere with regular tasks (processing peer messages or saving pieces) or high-priority tasks (servicing UPC or the throttle). This should also improve interface responsiveness.

The task engine has also been made lock-free, eliminating thousands of system calls per task-cycle.

Minor Protocol-Compatibility Improvements

HTTP connections are more reliable and compatible than ever. We made several improvements that allow Tixati to operate reliably with servers that use uncommon keep-alive or compression schemes.

Peer connections now also support the "upload_only" extension within the inner "m" LT-EXT dictionary as opposed to the traditional field of the same name used in the outer root LT-EXT dictionary. This was observed on the open internet in a common client and added for the sake of better compatibility.

Miscellaneous Other Fixes/Improvements

Several other minor improvements and fixes have been made within the GUI. A new "Link" column has been added for peers. Auto-Shutdown can now optionally wait for both downloads and seeds to complete. Several other minor fixes have been made.




August 24, 2011
Alpha-testing of version 1.71 has begun.

This new version contains several performance improvements, including UDP Peer Connections.

Please visit http://alpha.tixati.com for more information.




May 8, 2011
Version 1.61 is now available for download at http://www.tixati.com/download
The following changes/additions were made:
  • Categories feature that allows transfers to be organized and manipulated as groups
  • Transfer description column and editor
  • Text Filter bar can now be used to filter transfers by name, description, file name, tracker URL, or peer IP
  • Improved PEX processing
  • DHT search algorithms upgraded for more thorough searching
  • Better fault-tolerance when reading config files from previous sessions
  • More toolbar display options in Settings > User Interface > Widgets
  • Several tree/list view internal optimizations for reduced CPU usage
  • Improvements to scheduler name synchronization with transfers, RSS feeds, and BW presets
  • Numerous minor UI fixes and optimizations
  • Updated IP-country data



March 31, 2011
Version 1.57 is now available for download at http://www.tixati.com/download
The following changes/additions were made:
  • New bandwidth view including multiple layouts
  • New bandwidth throttle and priority system, including ability to hard limit KB/s on any peer or transfer
  • Several choking algorithm improvements
  • Many core protocol improvements, including better PEX processing and filtering
  • More customization features in transfer-loading dialogs
  • Option to use trash or permanently delete local files
  • Support for sparse files in all operating systems (no waiting for file allocation)
  • Fault tolerance for transient file errors such as access locking violations and permission problems
  • RSS/IPFilter HTTP downloads support gzip content encoding
  • Better options for handling last-modified time mismatch problems
  • Better handling of edge/crust pieces inside partial downloads
  • Updated IP-country data
  • Optimized core win32 socket routines for much lower CPU usage under high-throughput conditions
  • Vastly better support for High-DPI / Large Font modes in Windows and Linux environments
  • Improvements to OS-themed button control painting to better match Windows 7 look and feel
  • New icons
  • Numerous other UI fixes and improvements



March 28, 2011
Version 1.56 has started beta testing.  Please visit beta.tixati.com to participate in the testing.




Jan 26, 2011
Version 1.52 is now available for download.
The following changes/additions were made:
  • Files in all views are organized in their original folder structure, with ability to disable or adjust priority on entire folders. This option is on by default but can be toggled in the Layout menu under the Files sub-menu.
  • Icons are next to files in all views. The icons correspond to the different file types, as you would see exploring files in the regular shell. This option is on by default but can be toggled in the Layout menu under the Files sub-menu.
  • Separate downloading and seeding default bandwidth presets can now be selected. This can be done from the Bandwidth Presets window accessible from the system-tray menu.  Whenever Tixati transitions to or from fully-seeding state the default for the new state will be activated.
  • A category bar that can filter the list of transfers by state (downloading/seeding/queued/off) has been added. This bar can be activated in the layout menu, and is off by default.
  • A popup window to activate/deactivate optional columns has been added to replace the old system of checkboxes in the layout submenu.
  • Additional double-click option "Open Location/Folder" is now included.  This will open the location folder when a single-file transfer has been clicked, and open the base folder of multi-file transfers.
  • The Open-Folder option in the main context menu is now also available for single-file transfers, in which case it opens the download location.
  • New Import/Export functions have been added.  These are accessible from the main settings window.  This function can save all transfers, RSS feeds, scheduler items, IP filters, and settings to a single data file that can later be imported on a new system.
  • In the Settings under the Transfers > Metadata section an option has been added to delete .torrent files upon loading from a specified directory.
  • The ability to batch-save .torrent files from a multiple selection of transfers has been added. If multiple transfers are selected, Tixati will prompt for a destination folder and save a .torrent file for each selected transfer under it's standard name, appending (1) to avoid conflicts with any existing .torrent files.
  • An option to allow more permissive file last-modified time checking has been added in the Settings under the Tranfers > Local Files section. This option is off by default (99.99% of users will never need it) but is necessary to work-around file-systems or file-servers that may delay updating the last-modified time after files have been closed.
  • Several other minor improvements and bugfixes have been made.



Jan 22, 2011
Version 1.51 is now beta testing for Windows and Linux.
If you would like to participate, please visit http://beta.tixati.com




Jan 7, 2011
Version 1.49 is now available for download.
The following changes/additions were made:
  • Tracker Adjustment feature that allows custom add/remove of trackers when torrents load
  • Auto-Startup now has adjustable delay so that Tixati waits until system is fully settled after startup
  • File allocating / checking / moving interlocks and queuing for improved efficiency when multiple files are being moved
  • Several other minor file handling improvements
  • Transfer pre-load window now has tab to allow for tracker adjustment
  • Option to display full paths instead of folder names for location shortcuts
  • Finer control in UI>behavior options over what will cause pre-load and duplicate-load windows to appear
  • Several compatibility improvements to UPNP feature
  • Auto-Shutdown now compatible with Windows Vista/7 UAC
  • Fixed several compatibility problems with file / folder selection windows
  • Fixed problems with hanging URLs in RSS feeds
  • IP country data updated to 2011-01-04
  • New debug diagnostic views that can save reports, accessible by holding shift while clicking help button
  • Serveral other minor UI improvents and fixes



Dec 2, 2010
Version 1.46 is now available for download.
The following changes/additions were made:
  • The entire RSS feature has undergone a major revision
  • The scheduler has undergone a major revision
  • Peer-piece attachment algorithms have been greatly improved
  • Option to auto-save .torrent or magnet link when a new transfer starts
  • Auto-startup with computer
  • Auto-shutdown when downloads complete, with configurable delay
  • Bandwidth profiles
  • Configuration file loading/saving is much more robust, including backup files and warning prompts
  • Meta-info parsing is more tolerant of errors
  • Global peer ignore
  • Raised concurrent DHT search limits
  • Many improvements to core socket functions
  • System file access log with lag measurement
  • Diagnostic CPU usage category charts
  • New columns in transfer and peer views
  • Tooltip-enabled tree and list views
  • Several UI and output formatting improvements



Nov 21, 2010
Version 1.45 is now beta testing for Windows and Linux.
If you would like to participate, please visit http://www.tixati.com/beta/




Nov 5, 2010
Version 1.45 is now beta testing for Linux.
The Windows versions will be complete in a few weeks.
If you would like to participate, please visit http://www.tixati.com/beta/




Aug 13, 2010
Version 1.42 is now available for download.
The following changes/additions were made:
  • No allocating of files marked "do not download"
  • Pre-download prompt to allow user to change location settings or exclude files
  • New "Download" column with checkboxes in Files property tab to allow quick file selection
  • Improved file checking routines that can check single files individually within multi-file transfers
  • File allocating staggered for more efficient disk access
  • Disk file read caching for peers, with selectable cache optimization rules and logging options
  • Full BEP-21 "Extension for partial seeds" support in peer and tracker connections
  • Improved tracker editing
  • Trackers now default to all-tiers mode
  • Tracker HTTP compatibility improvements
  • Better DHT search prioritizing
  • New bandwidth profiles feature in tray menu
  • Ability to stop / restart all torrents from tray menu
  • Minimize button hide to tray option (Windows only)
  • Tray icon is now optional
  • Torrents with high file counts should work more smoothly
  • Improvements to RSS compatibility
  • Numerous minor fixes and improvements to the user interface



Aug 6, 2010
Version 1.41 is now beta testing.
If you would like to participate, visit http://www.tixati.com/beta/




June 10, 2010
Version 1.37 is now available for download.
The following changes/additions were made:
  • Automatic bandwidth throttling for DSL/Cable internet connections that measures latency and adjusts throttle for optimum performance
  • Vastly improved IPv6 support
  • Optional flag column for country of origin in peers view
  • Optional bytes in/out column for transfers view
  • Optional stop seeding ratio column for transfers view
  • Optional time seeding column for transfers view
  • Time-left in transfers view and details tab now shows seeding ratio goal ETA during seeding
  • Separate stop seeding ratio settings for locally created seeds and regular seeds
  • Indicator icon in transfers view and transfer details for created seeds
  • New seeding control options on transfer context menu
  • Option to simultaneously announce to all groups in multi-tracker torrents
  • Support for HTTP chunked encoding in tracker responses
  • Improved error decoding for tracker responses
  • Seed and peer counts from tracker response displayed in tracker status column
  • Optional recycling of queue slots between uploads and downloads
  • Settings window has been completely redesigned
  • Support for tray balloon download completion notifications in both Linux and Windows
  • Improved choking and activation algorithms for faster transfers
  • More flexible options for byte display units
  • Better options for controlling peer connection levels
  • Bandwidth throttles adjusted by KB/s instead of B/s
  • Several other minor improvements to the interface and core



March 28, 2010
Version 1.34 is now available for download.
The following changes/additions were made:
  • Filter bar that limits view to only transfers with titles matching user-specified text
  • Manual force choke/unchoke option on peer context menus
  • Super-seeding option for more efficient initial seeding of new swarms
  • Tray icon tooltip now shows number of transfers uploading/downloading and bandwidth
  • Optional notification of completed transfers via blinking tray icon, beep, or tray balloon notification
  • Columns can be shown/hidden from layout menu in transfers view
  • New upload ratio column for transfers
  • New percent complete column for peers
  • Selectable peer connection levels allow the user to adjust how many peers are connected in each swarm
  • DHT search queue can be re-ordered via drag and drop
  • Several minor improvements to the user interface



February 27, 2010
Version 1.31 is now available for download.
The following changes/additions were made:
  • Full featured scheduler that can start or stop transfers, RSS feeds, DHT, and adjust the bandwidth throttle on a daily or weekly cycle, or once on a specific date and time
  • Optional location column in peers view that displays the country of each peer
  • Optional client-version column in peers view that displays the BitTorrent client name and version of each peer
  • Option to show or hide text labels in the main toolbar
  • Option to show or hide icons in menus and on buttons
  • Numerous minor improvements to the user-interface



January 24, 2010
Version 1.29 is now available for download.
The following changes/additions were made:
  • IP Filter feature that accepts several blocklist formats and can auto-update from the web
  • Bandwidth charting for individual peers
  • Several minor improvements to the RSS reader
  • Full compatibility with Universal Naming Convention network file paths
  • A new portable edition is now available that allows Tixati to run from a flash-drive or other portable media



December 31, 2009
Version 1.26 is now available for download.
The following changes/additions were made:
  • A full-featured RSS reader with automated torrent loader
  • Downloaded files can be moved by right-clicking transfers
  • 'Move on complete' can be adjusted by right-clicking transfers
  • Magnet links can be copied and .torrent files can be saved by right-clicking transfers
  • Peer connection algorithms have been fine-tuned for better performance
  • Several minor refinements to the user interface



November 13, 2009
Version 1.21 is now available for download.
The following changes/additions were made:
  • Improved peer selection algorithms for even faster downloads
  • Full Unicode support
  • TCP/UDP socket layer completely re-coded for efficiency and lower CPU usage
  • Fully compatible with Windows 7
  • Four new options for byte display formatting in views
  • Option to limit concurrent outgoing connection attempts
  • Option to bind all incoming and outgoing sockets to specific local IP
  • Support for loading .torrent files with non-standard character encodings
  • Several minor refinements to user interface



August 27, 2009
Version 1.14 is now available for download.
The following changes/additions were made:
  • UDP tracker support
  • Tray icon with option to run in background
  • Main window can optionally hide behind tray icon when close button clicked
  • Win32 menu widgets have been re-coded from scratch to avoid problems with stock win32 modeless menus
  • Win32 file selection widget now works correctly when OS shell is set to hide known file extensions
  • Win32 folder selection widget hover-underline and hand-cursor
  • Win32 and Linux folder selection widget double-click debouncing
  • Escape key no longer closes transfer and peer properties windows (use alt-F4)
  • Transfer view layout menu now properly reflects sub-item ordering
  • Corrected problems with tree view widget sub-item sorting
  • Win32 tracker-blocking option should now work correctly
  • Problem with shell-opening .torrent files in Vista corrected
  • Pressing + or - in tree views will expand/collapse selected lines
  • Key navigation in transfers view will now correctly update selection in bottom property tabs



July 11, 2009
Version 1.13 is now available for download.
An initial configuration dialog was added to make setup easier, and there were minor changes to the win32 installer/uninstaller.




July 2, 2009
Version 1.12 beta-2 now available.
This version fixes a few minor display bugs and a few bugs with the win32 installer/uninstaller.




June 27, 2009
Version 1.12 beta-1 now available.