qBittorrent 5.0 Now Available, Drops Support for Old PCs

qBittorrent has released its version 5.0.0 on September 29th, 2024. The update brings many new features, improvements, bug fixes, and some fundamental changes. Some of these issues will affect users who prefer using older operating systems.

Following a few beta releases, qBittorrent 5.0 is finally out of testing, with many improvements and higher system requirements. qBittorrent 5.0.0 requires at least Qt 6.5, Boost 1.76, and OpenSSL 3.0.2. The underllying codebase has also been upgraded to C++20. Unfortunately, as a result, Windows versions older than 10 and even 32-bit systems are no longer supported. With the loss of compatibility with older operating systems, the development team has addressed many bugs, including inconsistent column naming, incorrect handling of share limits, and display issues with zero-byte folders.

qBittorrent 5.0.0 brings in many new features as well. The torrent creation process has been improved with support for larger piece sizes, and tracker management was also improved with separate filter items for errors and the ability to remove trackers directly from the filter widget. The user interface was also updated with options to name each qBittorrent instance, send test emails, and override default share limit actions. Additionally, users can pause or resume the entire BitTorrent session and set a shutdown timeout for almost complete control over downloads.

qBittorrent also updated its file handling with the ability to keep unwanted files in a separate folder and move content files to the trash instead of deleting them. Also, users can now filter torrent content using regular expressions and see a torrent's "privateness" in the UI. The Web UI, RSS feed handling, and search functionality have all received their share of updates.

The decision to drop support for older systems, like Windows 7 and 32-bit systems, along with older Qt and Boost versions, is likely driven by the need to streamline development. Maintaining compatibility with outdated technologies can be time-consuming and make it slower to implement new features. However, with the new bug fixes and updates, it's great for those who can use it.

You can download qBittorrent from the official website. There are builds available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Source: qBittorrent