Help! Questions about Bittorrent on a Mac

[Justin]

I just started using Bittorrent, and the computer I'm using is a Mac running on Tiger. I don't consider myself computer illiterate, but I don't know too much about Bittorrent. I understand the basics of the way it works (sort of), but I don't know much about finding strong/fast torrents. Here are some questions that I've been wondering.

Are there video torrents that aren't compatible with Macs?

If for instance, I'm downloading an iPod-compatible TV show, do all the files need to be completely downloaded for the video to work? (I tried opening a file, but it says that Quicktime doesn't understand the file)

Does the download speed slowly increase over time?

I live in Canada: is downloading through Bittorrent highly illegal?

Thanks for your time

[Tomi]

Most video torrents are .avi, so yes, they are compatiable, cross-OS.

The video has to be fully finished before you can watch it because Bittorrent downloads in parts; it doesn't download start to finish, it downloads in random parts of the file that are available, hence the reason that Quicktime can't open it yet, because it's incomplete.

Downloading speed increases as there are more seeders [people with full torrent downloaded]. The amount of time doesn't matter for speed.

I live in Canada too, I've downloaded plenty of movies, and TV shows - I'm still here, right? Your ISP most likely does not care.

Any other questions, feel free to PM me.

[Justin]

wow, thanks for the prompt answer.

[Tomi]

Prompt? *check times* Whoa, heh. Yeah.

[Justin]

Anything to get your post count up, huh?

[Tomi]

Not always.