CNET Archive

Find more recent Document management products

LimeWire Basic (11/12/2005)

LimeWire Basic

Entered CNET Catalog: 11/12/2005

SKU: CNETLIMEWIRE4.9

Manufacturer: Lime Wire LLC

Content [Hide]
  1. Manufacturer's description
  2. Users' opinions
  3. Blogs

Manufacturer description

PRODUCT FEATURES: Ease of use - just install, run, and search; Ability to search by artist, title, genre, or other metainformation; Elegant multiple search tabbed interface; "Swarm" downloads from multiple hosts help you get files faster; iTunes integration for Mac and Windows users; Unique "ultrapeer" technology reduces bandwidth requirements for most users; Integrated chat; Directly connect to a computer; Browse host feature - even works through firewalls; Added Bitzi metadata lookup; International versions: Now available in many new languages; Connects to the network using GWebCache, a distributed connection system; Automatic local network searches for lightning-fast downloads.

User opinions

Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 21 user reviews

Not a bad share program for songs and moviesby diesel503 - June 11, 2009

Pros: Easy to understand interface. Lots of things to choose from.

Cons: Sometime it seems to run awfully slow and I can't find a reason for it.

Review: There are so many different programs to choose from similar to this one but I like it for 1.its free 2.find any song i look for. 3.Doesn't fill my PC with garbage I don't want.
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 21 user reviews

User interface is alright, but not impressiveby rho7nin - May 15, 2009

Pros: Great for music files, download times usually pretty quick.

Cons: Don't bother looking for programs or video files. They all are crap with unwanted attachements or missrepresented content. Just gotta blame the jerks on that one though.

Review: I'd like it better if the program was easier to use .
User Rating:
0.5 stars

out of 21 user reviews

limewire 5 has some serious bugsby loodjena - April 26, 2009

Pros: did not find any

Cons: this version keeps crashing every 5 minutes

Review: if you an older version of limewire and are tempted to upgrade to 5.1.1., do NOT bother.
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 21 user reviews

Very good Softwareby mendocino87 - March 3, 2009

Pros: very fast, clean interface

Cons: didn't find any yet

Review:
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 21 user reviews

NO Spyware? Not so fast.by knouraee - June 13, 2008

Pros: Great Tool!

Cons: Uninvited Party Crashers

Review: It's a great tool, but trojan downloaders are an occasional unwanted bonus feature.
User Rating:
0.5 stars

out of 21 user reviews

Rubbish mixed with dirt! Use Ares instead.by VietRebel - May 7, 2008

Pros: you can dl stuff.

Cons: low variety, shows junk during search, difficult to find specific files

Review: It sucks. Took so long to search. Came up with crappy stuff that had nothing to do with what I was searching for. Only shows file name so you don't know what it really is. Took me ages to download because I had to also download Java.
User Rating:
1.5 stars

out of 21 user reviews

***FREE VIRUSES***by Kruizer - May 5, 2008

Pros: You can download files.

Cons: Viruses, viruses, viruses, viruses... what more can I say?

Review: DO NOT DOWNLOAD!! It's kind of nice cause you can download files, but they are packed with viruses that kill your computer. It killed the hard drive on my laptop and I lost all of the files. I know two people who that happened to, in fact. Get it only if you are trying to find an excuse to get rid of your old computer so you can get a new one.
User Rating:
0.5 stars

out of 21 user reviews

TROJAN HORSES, do not load.by lamb789 - May 1, 2008

Pros: Lots of stuff

Cons: TROJAN HORSES, had to reformat computer, .

Review: Nothing could remove the trojan horses. Removed system restore dates before program install. Only load if you are running SteadyState. Computer became very slow, hard disk always on, and would not allow access to my documents for through explorer. Best not to load.
User Rating:
1.0 stars

out of 21 user reviews

VERY poor.by nmartinsmith - March 17, 2008

Pros: Instals quickly, easy to use.

Cons: Poor search facility

Review: Using the free version, I searched for a Windows XP System32 Config file and found only porn ... even with the adult filter on. When I downloaded something that was CALLED Windows XP System32 Config and found that it was porn, I deleted the file and uninstalled Limewire, but my computer ran insanely slowly on reboot, and my antivirus program had been corrupted, requiring reinstallation.
User Rating:
0.5 stars

out of 21 user reviews

Absolute Rubbish / Corrupts other software applicationsby de_miller - December 25, 2007

Pros: None - Nothing worth mentioning

Cons: Software Corruption

Review: Oh the headaches one can experience after installing Lime Wire software. Recommend others not to install software to avoid similiar problems. When one uninstalls software from PC, multiple hidden files will still remain on your PC. To correct this problem perform another search of the drive for hidden files and manually delete files. The software has a tendency to reinstall itself and/or continues to affect other software applications. Problems: Outlook Send/Receive error msgs., unable to sychronise folders, ISP error msg received (nothing to do with ISP) (MS 2003 / SVP 3)
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 21 user reviews

download tons of music and videosby lathyrus2002 - January 24, 2006

Pros: easy to use, fast and spyware free

Cons: it's a resource consumer for sure!

Review: But with the consumption of resource it does perform quite a satisfactory job. You can share or folders or none. But better share at least few so that you won't be blocked accessing those users who prefer not sharing with the users not sharing anything at all.
It's quite simple and newer versions also show the firewall options. I liked it!
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 21 user reviews

Good for musicby ctk76 - January 21, 2006

Pros: Probably the easiest and fastest in downloading single popular music track

Cons: doesn't excel much in any other areas

Review: LimeWire is for people who want to sample single music before they buy albums. Installation is reasonably simple as well as its ease of use: there's no need to worry about opening and closing ports (if your concern is primarily downloading), or watching your upload speed as much as other clients. However, LimeWire falls short in availability of obscure files that eDonkey network offers, and speed and reliability of BitTorrent for the most sought-after files. So if your primary purpose is sampling music, LimeWire is your best option.
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 21 user reviews

The best p2p app since the beginningby assman - January 19, 2006

Pros: fast searches, relevant searches, extremely fast downloads, excellent interface, NO SPYWARE ADWARE TROJANS etc., responsive, fun to use, aggregated results & advanced search by any type of media

Cons: bittorrent is better for huge files (and always will be the best)

Review: I gotta say, cnet's review comes EXTREMELY late. limewire has been around for many years, and it was always the best p2p app. in the beginning, kazaa was the only option and users flocked to it making it the most popular software for p2p.

about 2 years later, consumers began realizing how terrible kazaa really was and that there were much better options out there. limewire is now nearly as popular as kazaa, (or more popular depending who you ask).

i began using limewire about 6 years ago as it was the only application being made for the apple mac computers at the time. i continued using it (while recommending it to the less fortunate kazaa users) as it continued to improve with each new version (and all the versions in between)

by far, it is the best app out there for general p2p usage. though the bittorrent network will always be my favorite - and its client Azureus will always remain the best for that network.

but for general file sharing, limewire is where its at.
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 21 user reviews

great P2P softwareby boomer25_09 - January 19, 2006

Pros: easy to use, ad-ware/spy-ware/virus free, no pop-ups, fast

Cons: lags computer a bit if a few apps are open

Review: I've tried most of the big P2P software out there by now: Bearshare, Morpheus, Shareaza, and a couple of smaller projects. I have a cable connection and get around 200 kbps total when downloading. Searches are usually accurate, but a few times will be more general (like if searching for "Weezer in artist and Perfect Situation in title, may come up with results for many different Weezer songs). Open sour, which is nice, and it's able to run directly on Mac or Linux systems, which helps spread the community. All in all, a great P2P software.
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 21 user reviews

THE BEST P2P OUT THEREby lilmoneyman23 - January 19, 2006

Pros: GREAT QUALITY FILES, FAST DOWNLOADS, NO SPYWARE

Cons: JAVA APPLICATION KIND OF SLOW

Review: GREAT P2P. THE BEST. HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING. NO SPYWARE AT ALL. NO ADDS EITHER. YOU SHOULD GET IT. THE ONLY BAD THING IS IT RUNS WITH JAVA WHICH IS KND OF SLOW.
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 21 user reviews

luv it, but there is spyware!(sort of)by pianotechman209 - January 18, 2006

Pros: awesome program, finds everything I want

Cons: there is spyware...kind of

Review: I used Yahoo Anyspy and it found a dll that considered limewire spyware and that it would create popups well i didn't see any pop-ups yet so I won't clean it i guess the Yahoo Antispy singnature registry has limewire as spyware cuz of the inncidents from past versions. just informing you guys. I use zonealarm anyways so after i am done with limewire i block limewire from using the internet. Go ahead and comment I want to hear your comments and opinions. (By the way, the spyware was found on the 4.9 version, just to let u know haven't scaned for the new version yet.)
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 21 user reviews

I have version 4.9?!?by rdolishny - January 18, 2006

Pros: Use this for years with no issues.

Cons: Tries to automatically start on boot up and log in, but easily disabled.

Review: How is this possible: cnet is reviewing version 4.1 but I have 4.9 at home and have had this version for months. What's going on?!?
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 21 user reviews

great download program with NO adware or popupsby tbheady - January 18, 2006

Pros: works great, large network with plenty of users; no popups or adware

Cons: ads saved as shared files can be downloaded but are easy to spot

Review: i love limewire & am a dedicated fan after having tried kazaa & winamp for extended periods. with limewire, you truly get the program and thats IT! what a refreshing change! works good, easy to use interface, large network, etc...

where you can get tripped up on some ads is if someone has as ad file saved as a shared file (music or picture) in their shared folders. but these are super easy to spot a mile away.

2 thumbs UP!!!
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 21 user reviews

Good free P2P software, just be carefulby ChaosBahamut - January 4, 2006

Pros: free version has no added "bonuses", easy to use

Cons: Getting exactly what you're looking for is luck based, will pester you to upgrade to Pro, has illegal uses

Review: Pretty much what's said above. Just be careful what you download, or you could be paying big time, and not just in money.
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 21 user reviews

Free music online with NO POPUPSby Stevenam - January 3, 2006

Pros: HUGE collection, no adware/popups, FREE!

Cons: V. 4.10 isn't as stable as it's predecessor

Review: I see another opinion complaining about adware; I don't see ANY of that at all. Zero. The interface is quite easy, the system accesses a huge variety of music, the download is easy, the software runs on a Mac, there's little to complain about. It automatically downloads your music into your iTunes library, if you prefer. The current version isn't as stable as I'd like; it quits fairly often, but when it's restarted, it resumes any ongoing download/s. The previous version never quit.
Updated
I'm currently using Limewire 4.10 for Mac. I've been using LW for about 5 months, first the previous version. The one issue I have with v. 4.10 is somewhat frequent "Limewire has unexpectedly quit" episodes. However, it does retain any interrupted downloads, so they can be continued. It's tiresome and more than a little annoying, but with that one exception, Limewire is excellent. I've been able to find a huge number of songs I could not find ANYWHERE else - iTunes, Yahoo, you name it.
When you set up the software, it asks you where you want the files downloaded, and it works seamlessly with iTunes, which sees the new files as though they were downloaded from my own disks. Different types of files (video, etc.) can be handled differently - placed in different folders, for instance.
The preview feature works perfectly, both for audio and video files.
User Rating:
0.5 stars

out of 21 user reviews

boooooooo pop upsby redsoxlvr192 - January 2, 2006

Pros: uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh its not as bad as kazaa

Cons: from A to Z!!!

Review: get it... if you want adware

About CNET Archive

Welcome to the CNET Archive, a library of product reviews, user opinions, videos, specifications, and manufacturer descriptions for products no longer offered by the manufacturer or most retailers. Here you will find information on replacement parts and replacement ink cartridges. Read what others had to say about that used laptop you are considering buying. Take a trip down memory lane as you browse and reminisce about your favorite old video game or that first digital camera.

LimeWire Basic specifications

  • General
  • Category Internet & communication applications
  • Subcategory Internet & communication - file sharing (P2P clients)
  • Version 4.9
  • License pricing Standard
  • Software
  • License Type License
  • License Qty 1 user
  • License Pricing Standard
  • Platform Windows , MacOS
  • Distribution Media Download , CD-ROM
  • System Requirements
  • Peripheral / Interface Devices Mouse or compatible device
  • System Requirements Details HP-UX 10.20 , TurboLinux , FreeBSD