Morpheus was a file sharing and searching peer-to-peer client for Microsoft Windows, developed and distributed by the company StreamCast, that originally used the OpenNap protocol, but later supported many different peer-to-peer protocols.
On April 22, 2008, distributor StreamCast Networks filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after a long legal battle with music companies; all of their employees were laid off and the official download at www.morpheus.com stopped being available, though for a small period the website remained online.
[citation needed] However, when Morpheus is open and running, the interface contains online ads that are used to support the application.
During installation, an optional peer-to-peer Morpheus Toolbar is offered.
Version 5.3 didn't install adware or spyware, though it did install some desktop shortcuts to adware websites and the Morpheus Toolbar without user approval.