Developed in 2002 as an alternative to eDonkey2000, eMule is a P2P file sharing application for use on Microsoft Windows. eMule now connects to both the eDonkey network and the Kad network. Some of its distinguishing features include the direct exchange of sources between client nodes, fast recovery of corrupted downloads, and the use of a credit system to reward frequent uploaders. One of the biggest advantages of emule-project.net/ is a large open source user base, currently averaging just over 3 to 5 million, which makes it excellent for finding rare content. Also, this large community is invested in improvement of the product, which is why it has come such a long way in such a short amount of time.

Emule-project.net/ works differently than its rival, the original eDonkey client. It uses a credit system which brings about true files haring. The more you upload to a single client, the more they will share that same file with you. Generally, files are shared in parts. So you get what's available at the fastest speed, and with the new generation eMule, you can download multiple parts at multiple times, which makes getting what you need that much faster. One thing that is also attention-getting is the eMule client's' fast search abilities. You have the ability to send search strings to all available servers with the click of one button. The typical original eDonkey client required you to click the "Extend Search" button over and over to get the results from multiple servers. This in in of itself makes eMule-project.net/ superior. The "mod" community also makes eMule an attractive client. Not only do these projects include recent eMule clients, but they also integrate new and innovative features including banning, better download management, upload throttling and much more.

On the upside eMule-project.net/ definitely got the attention of the shrinking eDonkey user community, luring more back to the scene from competing commercial clients such as Kazaa and Morpheus. And there are good reasons for this. The eMule-project.net/ network boasts no spyware, no nags, no advertisements, more file availability and most of all, the availability of large files which would otherwise be out of the reach of the general internet community as a whole. On the downside, critics say that while eMule is good for rare files, it takes an excessive amount of time to download the most popular files, which you could get much faster even with older P22 applications like Kazaa. Further, critics point out that server list feature is confusing, usually leading members of the community to connect over and over to different servers as they try to get more sources, not really knowing how the thing actually works. Also, they point out that the user interface is somewhat cluttered and confusing and that there is somewhat high cpu usage when the program is idle. All in all, eMule-project.net/ has its advantages, but there are definitely drawbacks to using this P2P application.