Grouper allows users to share their personal media within private groups. It uses P2P technology connecting you directly to your friends’ hard drives where you can share large files in a safe, encrypted environment. It is a simple install and requires no firewall reconfiguration.
Software License: Freeware
Operating Systems Support: Microsoft Windows 2000, XP
Download Link: Grouper 1.3 Beta
Homepage: Grouper
Version ChangeLog:
New Share Finder
A new wizard allows you to quickly locate photos, music, documents, video clips or web links in your PC and share them with your friends in minutes
To start the wizard click on the ‘Need Assistance locating your files’ link in the Share Wizard or click on ‘Start Sharing’ in the Getting Started window
You can also start the wizard by right-clicking on a group name in the Groups Panel and choosing one of the new Share commands
New Search Commands
You can now easily search for all shared files, photos, audio clips, video clips or documents that are currently available to you for downloading or streaming
To search for files shared in a group, right-click on the group name in the Groups Panel and use one of the new ‘Search For All’ commands
To search for all files, photos, audio clips, video clips or documents shared by a specific user. Right-click on the user name in the Users Panel and choose one of the new ‘Search For All’ commands
P2p networking enhancements and bug fixes improve your overall Grouper user experience. Many issues such as disrupted downloads and users going offline are resolved in this release. Also, the time it takes to connect to your groups is greatly reduced
Open Invites and Listed Groups
You can choose to list any of your created groups
Listed groups are still private. Each listed group has a URL in the Grouper web site and people who know this URL can view basic group information and can request you to get invited over the web, using a web browser
You can post a link to a listed group URL in your Blog, Website, or email signature to encourage web invite requests
You can set a custom question that you would like potential members to answer before you approve their invite request
You can specify a category and sub category for your listed groups to communicate to requesters and group members exactly what your group is all about
You receive invitations request submitted on the web in your Grouper software in the Invitations tab. You can view the requester’s email address, name and answer to your question and can accept, decline or ask the requester to provide more information
You will never receive any email message from Grouper about web invite requests and your email address is not included on the group web page
All existing groups are unlisted by default. Listed Groups will also appear in the upcoming Grouper Public Directory
You can un-list any of your listed groups at any time. Once unlisted, the group information is no longer visible over the Web and people can not request to get invited over the web
To change listing options for your group, right-click the group name in the Groups Panel, choose ‘Profile…’ and click on the ‘Change’ button in the listing section
Improved Out-of-box Experience
A new Getting Started Wizard helps you to quickly start creating groups and sharing files
New getting started pages in the Share Browser let you know you about important Grouper features
New upstream bandwidth settings
Grouper attempts to preserve your upstream bandwidth to ensure that you can browse the web and check email while Grouper is downloading photos from your friends in the background
You can now specify your broadband connection speed and how much of it can be used by Grouper to upload your files and stream your music to your friends
Alternatively, you can manually specify a maximum kbps limit to be used by Grouper
The new settings are available in the Uploads tab in Grouper Options
New network activity graph
Displayed in the Activity area. Shows a real-time how much downstream and upstream bandwidth Grouper is currently using
Hover with the mouse cursor over the graph or over the Grouper tray icon to display a tool-tip with the exact kbps up and kbps down numbers
Improved streaming music playback
A known issue where the Grouper Player was unable to play remote streams in some cases is resolved in this release
The Grouper Player now automatically skips to a track from a different user in your playlist when a remote user’s Grouper does not have enough upstream bandwidth to serve a track requested by you for playback
Enhanced Group Profiles
At any time, you can rename your created group, change its description, and alter the listing options
To access a group’s profile, right click on a group in the Groups Panel and choose the ‘Profile…’ command
You can only change profiles for groups you have created
Profile changes are sent to all on-line group members and each will see a new activity in the activity panel with information about the change
Enhanced User Profiles
You can now set a personal quote as part of your profile. Other group members will be able to read it when they view your profile
Your profile image is now displayed in the top left of the main window and you can change it at any time by clicking on it
To view a user profile, right-click on a user name in the Users Panel and choose ‘Profile…’
By default, your profile is only visible to other users who are in a group with you. You can choose to make it visible to anyone (in the soon to be released Grouper public directory) by checking the ‘List in me in the public directory’ check box in your profile settings window
New Activities
A new activity is displayed when a group is renamed or when a group member profile is changed. Click on the activity text to view the group or the user profile
A new activity is displayed when another user has just shared new files in one of your groups. Click on the activity text to browse that user’s shared files
New Email Settings. You can specify if and in what cases you want to receive email from other users who are in a group with you. In the Grouper options, check the new Email tab
New Mini Mail Feature
You can send a short email message to one, several or all group members in any of your groups using Grouper. Right-click on a group name in the Groups Panel and choose the new ‘Message Members…’ command
You can also send a short email message to a user who is in a group with you by right-clicking his name in the Users Panel and choosing the new ‘Send a short text message…’ command
New Shares Announcements
You can now send an announcement to some or all group members when you have shared new files in a group. To announce new shares click on ‘Tell your Friends’ button in the Share Browser
Share Browser Improvements
A new browsing history feature allows you to quickly display shared folders you’ve previously browsed in the Share Browser. Use the new history buttons in the top of the Share Browser panel. The feature works similarly to your web browser history feature
New ‘select all’ and ‘select none’ commands are available at the top of the Share Browser panel
Revamped Menu System. New snazzy menu icons and selected menu highlights
New time-stamps in Group chat and Instant Messaging sessions show you when exactly a text was received from a remote user
