LimeWire Basic for Mac 5.5.16

LimeWire Basic for Mac Editor's Review

LimeWire is an Open Source client for P2P (Peer-to-Peer) networks such as Gnutella.

This program is a cross-platform file sharing utility. It's called cross-platform because it's Windows and Linux compatible. In fact, LimeWire has actually both Windows and Linux versions.

The application is easy to use. After installing it, you can start searching for files that you want to download.

The support for downloads is well implemented. It can do "swarm" downloads, like other multithreading download protocols, for example BitTorrent. In fact, LimeWire has the support for the BT protocol and it can be used as a BitTorrent client. The full support for multiple peers is available only for the users of the Professional version though.

The search support is well structured. It has metadata search capabilities, so a search query would return more than filenames and lengths.

The connection to the network is made through Gnutella Web Caching System, or short GWebCache. This is a simple and powerful Web based distributed host caching, which supports the Gnutella network.

The application also has the support for 'Magnet Links'. A magnet link allows you to access the Gnutella network by clicking a link on a Web page.

The 'Preferences' panel of this application has a wide variety. It gives you various options that can modify the behavior of the application. In order to fine-tune the application, some knowledge is required.

Pluses: it gives you the possibility to share and download files across P2P networks, it is free with no adds, it doesn't have 3rd party software within the install package unlike other P2P clients, it can be used as BT client.

Drawbacks / flaws: this is a beta version so it might have some unexpected surprises, the free version has fewer functionality than the professional version.

In conclusion: usually these kind of clients are associated with illegal downloads. In fact, it usually isn't the program's fault. It is all about what the users use it for. Same as, Mozilla or Opera aren't responsible for the illegal Web pages that users are visiting with their browsers. Therefore, what you download with this client is your responsibility. There is a Professional version of this program with more features. Check the producer's Web site in order to get more details about this.

version reviewed: 4.13.0 Beta