LimeWire 4.0.8

CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: CNET Staff

From its start as a post-Napster clone to its leading role as the quintessential Gnutella client, LimeWire has been one of the highest-profile P2P applications. The 4.0 series further ups the ante with a combination of new features, an updated interface, and better all-around performance.

On the surface, the refined and zippier Java interface houses some snazzy new icons and a few new features, including a connection-quality meter and a button matrix for zeroing in on specific file types. The search interface now sports a progress bar, and file information--such as artist and album--is more clearly displayed. The improved network performance gave us considerably more search results than previous versions and a more reliable downloading experience (for a P2P client, that is). This latest version also feels more nimble despite its inherently resource-heavy Java-based foundation. We like the What's New feature, which lists files recently added to the network. The check box to filter out adult content also is a nice touch.

The new features and overall functionality make this by far the most mature version of LimeWire to date. Despite the typical performance flaws found in all file-sharing clients, this latest version continues to offer solid performance and good looks across the board.

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Publisher's description

From LimeWire :

LimeWire is the world's fastest P2P file-sharing application. It enables the sharing, searching, and downloading of MP3 files. LimeWire also lets users share and search for all types of computer files, including movies, pictures, games, and text documents. Other features include dynamic querying, push-proxy support for connecting through firewalls, the ability to preview files while downloading, advanced techniques for locating rare files, and an extremely intuitive user interface.

New in version 4.0 are numerous enhancements designed to improve search and download performance and to refine the user experience. New search drill-down menus helps users find the content they want faster than ever before. By excluding bad sources, LimeWire makes use of all good file sources to improve download speeds. Also, added international grouping means files of any language now can be shared, searched for, and found quickly.

Editor's note: Using this product to make copies of copyrighted material may be illegal. CNET does not encourage or condone the illegal copying of copyrighted material.

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