How does this thing work?  Is it really a good replacement for PtoP transfers?

Find a website that is offering torrent files for download.  They are tiny files that contain info that Azureus uses to join a "swarm", which is a group of users sharing and downloading a single file or group of files.  Download a torrent file and open it with Azureus (or if Azureus is associated with .torrent files, you can just double-click the file.  Azureus will do the rest.

ETA: Most sites will list how many other people are connected to a swarm.  Seeds have the entire file.  Peers have part of it.  Go for something with higher numbers to start with.  It'll make for easier downloading.

It's GREAT!

Go to or search for Torrent Spy, and register...search for a file you want and download it.....when it asks you what you want to open it with use the program.....BAM it should start downloading

Also, the bittorrent network depends on people seeding files. After you receive all parts of the file please stay connected and keep seeding that file until you have a minimum of a 1:1 share ratio.