Thanks Vinnie for this really good explanation of what all those side programs are and will do when one isntalls Bearshare.

Very much appreciated. This information should accompany every Bearshare installation!

You are wrong in one point however.
What these additional programs are IS spyware.

They get into computers, mostly unwittingly, not by people wanting them there!
But they are more or less forced into them and provide information on surfing habits and press people to look at certain popups.

THIS IS WHAT SPYWARE DOES AND WHERE THE NAME COMES FROM AND WHAT THE NAME 'SPYWARE' IMPLIES.

That is where you make 'normal' Gnutella Net users like myself into advisaries, and get us to make others aware of what Bearshare does on the FREE Gnutella Network, without telling it to unsuspecting and software illiterate users, which there are millions of out there on the web.

Not good, dear Vinnie. You are going the wrong direction with Gnutella, by trying to make money out of it.
Stop working on your Bearshare program, if you think you don't get paid enough for it! Get a job instead.

There are others, who will spend their spare time and make some greats Gnutella Net clients, which do NOTHING MORE than what one expects they do!

Please post your information to more forums (re Onflow, Savenow etc.) and package it into the Bearshare installation, and ENSURE that people MUST READ it, before they install BEARSHARE.
If Bearshare is a very good client (and it certainly looks like you have done a very good work with it, it is stable and provides great features), you may consider creating your own 'Bearshare Net' for Bearshare users, which is quite easy to do, and leave the 'Gnutella Net' alone for true free file sharing enthusiasts like myself.

JD