Not having played with LimeWire since it went spyware crazy a couple of versions ago, our hands-on experience with the latest version came as something of a surprise. Not only did the program prove completely spyware-free in our scans, there's only one tiny, inconspicuous advertising link down at the bottom of the page to distract you while you're working. We were totally psyched until we found out that searches were limited to about 200 hits, including duplicates, which means far fewer unique files. Still, since it doesn't scatter junkware all over your PC like some P2P clients, LimeWire is a great way to see if P2P is for you. The excellent online help, supereasy interface, and flawless operation during our testing make the US$18.88 upgrade for the unfettered Pro version seem quite reasonable.
InstallationInstalling LimeWire Basic is easy, though it requires clicking through a number of dialogs and warnings about P2P usage. But everything's in plain sight, and the only thing that's loaded is the program and the cross-platform Java runtime environment that's built into the installation routine. Spybot Search and Destroy gave LimeWire Basic a clean bill of health, though our uninstall left about 15MB of JAR files (Java ARchive files) in the C:\Programs\LimeWire directory. Perhaps this is to help speed upgrades, and the files are easy to find and delete manually, but we'd like a totally clean uninstall, please. The uninstall also leaves the Java runtime environment on your machine. Design
After the blinding advertising blitz, courtesy of the free version of Kazaa 3, LimeWire's relative lack of ads brought us a sense of peace. Not only that, we found LimeWire's interface exceptionally attractive, well thought out, and easy to use. Little usability embellishments, such as automatic removal of cancelled downloads (this is a tedious, unintuitive two-step procedure in other P2P clients) and direct connection to known IP addresses for exchanging files with friends, made us feel that the designers actually use the program.
Unfortunately, LimeWire Basic intentionally limits the number of files found during searches -- a fairly obvious inducement to purchase the Pro version for US$18.88. Under some circumstances, say, if we were using the obnoxious Kazaa 3, we might resent this. However, LimeWire is so well designed and the ads so low key that we didn't mind plunking down the cash. Then again, the free version of LimeWire yielded only 50 unique hits in our generic search for cars, whereas we saw upwards of 200 in uncapped Ares, and about 100 in the similarly limited free version of Kazaa 3.
FeaturesLimeWire doesn't offer Ares' chat rooms but does serve as a media librarian for your whole PC, even handily displaying music by artist, title, and other tags. We did notice one small bug: An icon on the bottom of the program reported that it had detected a firewall, though we had none enabled. The program also plays/previews music files and uses Windows Media Player to show video. It has a full-page connection monitor where you can track incoming searches of your own shared folder, as well as track files being uploaded from your computer by other users. LimeWire is the also the only P2P client we've seen that will launch pages in a browser other than Internet Explorer. Support
We were impressed with the online support for LimeWire Basic; for freeware, it's not bad at all. You have to upgrade to the Pro version to e-mail a techie or get live online support, but the available-to-all FAQ and the copious instructions, including a downloadable PDF version of the user manual, are comprehensive and easy on the brain. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any mention as to why the uninstall routine left so many files lying around. There's also a busy user forum, which to be honest, is often the best way to find fixes, workarounds, or simply verify bugs for any program. There's no telephone support, but hey, what do you expect with freeware?
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Paul
18/03/2008, 01:37 PM
rating
5/10
So many bugs Working on my second clean up and I juat started useing this a few weeks ago
Pros: lots of good songs
Cons: infected files everywhere
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shortie958
09/03/2008, 02:15 PM
rating
7/10
i love limewire
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farrah
19/02/2008, 01:12 AM
rating
5/10
thank god some users are being kind enough to share what happened after going Pro. I was about to buy it.
Pros: i'm not sure. I was looking for the one with better reviews. I used to be a mac user and it was the only p2p i could use. Ares seems to have more sources
Cons: i have been trying to download ONE song for the last 2 weeks! need more sources, need more sources. I'm starting to hate it. And yes, btw, it's all freaking porn!
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Robert Washington
14/02/2008, 01:26 AM
rating
8/10
I purchase Limewire 2 years ago, i enjoyed the program while it lasted, but i am un able to down load any more, i tried to reload and now i am at a stand still i do not have a phone number to call. and i did pay for this item. Can anyone help me my e-mail address is: washingtonr1@bellsouth.net THANKS
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Phildawg2009
25/01/2008, 02:45 AM
rating
3/10
Its a good program and all but why does it require java.
Pros: Fast downloading limited spyware
Cons: Must have good antivirus to block the viruses during Install. But other than that it is a good downloader. And a messy Interface which you have to have been using limewire for a long time to figure it out.
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brendan langlands
20/12/2007, 05:22 PM
rating
2/10
I purchased limewire about 2 weeks ago over the internet, and it worked perfect straight away, since then i have sent 1 email asking you to contact me, the site will not accept my email address, so i would like some one to contact me or have the money refunded, i enjoyed the downloaded music and would like to continue using this site.
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jack wrightson
13/12/2007, 02:22 PM
rating
7/10
I think it is cool because of the songs and videos
Pros: lots of music
Cons: it is so slow
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drab1
03/12/2007, 07:25 AM
rating
9/10
So Much Music if you search for it
Don't Give Up if you don't find something you're after first off Try Again Next Time
Pros: Heaps of Music
Browse Host Option
Better than other P2P I've tried
Preview Mode
Bit Rate & Broadband Speed Display
Cons: Small Files usually Bugs or Junk 22k & 119k - Fields too short for Long Titles - Freezes every now & then
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drab1
03/12/2007, 07:24 AM
rating
9/10
So Much Music if you search for it
Don't Give Up if you don't find something you're after first off Try Again Next Time
Pros: Heaps of Music
Browse Host Option
Better than other P2P I've tried
Preview Mode
Bit Rate & Broadband Speed Display
Cons: Small Files usually Bugs or Junk 22k & 119k - Fields too short for Long Titles - Freezes every now & then
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soldierofgod777777
06/11/2007, 03:36 PM
rating
5/10
well,besides the fact that we are all downloading illegal music and video files via the program.,and besides the fact that some of the downloads are real slow,and despite the fact that a lot of times a file cant be downloadeddue to inadequate sources,its an ok program
Pros: you can find an awful lot to download
Cons: a lot of the files cant be downloaded due to too few sources
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