Ares Galaxy is a peer-to-peer file sharing program which was created in mid 2002. It is free and open source software for Microsoft Windows available for download at SourceForge and is written in the Delphi programming language. Ares originally worked with the Gnutella network, but six months after its creation in 2002, it was switched to its own network with a leaves-and-supernodes architecture. Proponents of the software claim that it has faster download times, faster and more complete searches than other file-sharing programs, and connects quickly.
The network communication of Ares is more difficult to identify than other popular P2P programs, so Ares is sometimes the only P2P client that functions on restricted networks, such as some university campuses. However, it is not impossible to block and many organizations are now doing so. Since version 1.9.0 data sharing is possible with both peers behind a firewall. The Ares network is largely free from false and corrupt files unlike others like FastTrack. However, some users report that reliability of and difficulty in establishing connections can be erratic.
