[brandon0688]

I personally think the new version is difficult to use. The whole program is now sooo condensed that makes me wonder if LimeWire has jumped the shark. I felt deja vu from the Kazaa doom years ago.

Comments....

Bring back the side menu for refining searches based on Artist/Album name.

The UI makes LimeWire seem bogged down.

The added Gmail feature is just not something I use.

The download area is pitiful. Too much right-clicking here, and right-clicking there.

I feel like I'm using an off brand version of iTunes now.

R.I.P. 4.18.8

I will spare a few days to try an fall in love with this watered down version of LimeWire, then I'm reverting back.

[Sam]

Hi Brandon,

Thanks very much for your thoughts.

Our goal wasn't really to "water it down", instead it was to really get rid of the clutter that had built up in LimeWire over the years and make it easier for new & old users alike to use LimeWire to search, download and share.

There were a few key issues we wanted to address:
- Searching was unnecessarily hard. Why should you have to tab or click into a lot of different fields to do a search? Google and other search engines have shown that a single search box is almost always enough. Requiring that you type additional data in separate boxes was just overkill.
- Sharing wasn't very clear. Inadvertant sharing was a HUGE issue. People accidentally shared all kinds of material. The new version takes a huge leap in making sharing very explicit.
- LimeWire had no sense of community, even though hundreds of millions of people use it. Our first step in fixing this is integrating Jabber (ala GMail, LiveJournal and others). We plan to also let you connect using Facebook or possibly AIM. Would either of those communities make better sense to you?

As to your specific comments (that aren't addressed above), the UI shouldn't be feeling bogged down. Still, we know there's some performance issues. Speeding things up is our #1 priority right now -- we're specifically addressing the search results area and other things in the interface. Have you tried clicking "See All" in the download tray? Is that area still not what you'd like? What is missing that you would like to do in a single click?

Thanks again for your feedback.

[brandon0688]

I use MySpace if that is another social network you guys plan to add later. I uninstalled the new and went back to the previous version. Now that I can see the interface I was use to, I think I can see where the features are still the same, but the whole new menu bar made LimeWire 5, in my opinion, feel as though it were some other P2P network. I'll wait and see what other users think and respond with before actually reinstalling v5.

[atmo1974]

Man, I was so excited to see a new version of limewire last night and I downloaded it immediately however within 2 hours I uninstalled it and went back to 4.18 PRO. LW5 is very difficult to use and I wasnt happy with it at all. The search features and trying to monitor your downloads is just to confusing. I really like the initiative on the social network side that they are trying t accomplish with LW5 as the other version never did crack the code on connecting directly to friends without a lot of difficulty. The screen views are just plain crazy and it didnt even feel like a LW version. I thought I was using some other program all together. I dont like having to flip through so many tabs and I got lost frequently while changing screens. I think LW needs to go back to the basic view and operation of the older versions but figure out a way to add the Social network. Hope you other guys have more luck than me but I will be sticking with 4.18 PRO until I see a big improvement in future limewire versions. Thank God I always save my older versions and was able to retrieve 4.18. We have what we call the "KISS" principle in the Army. Keep -It -Simple- Stupid!!

[thekochs]

I'm about 50/50 with this version...perhaps when I use more I'll like better %. My biggest complaint is that it is unclear how to restrict shares......not sure what LM5 is opening up in my machine with the new library function ?

I appreciate all the new features and perhaps some I may use. One small item is there is no longer indicators on the bottom if you are past your firewall. I kinda liked having that to make sure. Also, the type of connection (Medium/Full/Turbo) description goes away after doing into other screens. I think this should be made more clear....also....YELLOW is bad color for Turbo.

However, I can appreciate the effort and think it will work out as they tweek and people get used to....change is always hard at first....but the ideas they have on LM5 are good ones.

[tc8232]

so does anyone know how to go back to the old version of limewire
im not liking the new version

[Only A Hobo]

Hi tc8232

EDIT: Limewire 4.18.8 used to be available here: http://www.limewire.com/download/oldversion.php


It may well be necessary to make a complete uninstall of Limewire ..instructions for this are at http://wiki.limewire.org/index.php?t...r_Cant_Connect if you scrool down a bit.

I would advise you at this time (as well as doing it on a regular basis with all imoportant files) to make a back up of your saved files ...just as a precaution. Burn them as data to a disc or two ..or save them on an external hard drive.

Your incomplete downloads will most likely become useless, but I'm not absolutely sure.

[jtbadco]

Sorry guys...but I am smelling another Windows Vista here. Why do they always feel the need to re-invent the wheel? I have been using 4.18.8 since it came out with no issues.
I understand the need to grow and change to keep up with the needs of today's markets...but regardless of your 'goals',...you have now lost what made you stand out. Speed and ease of use.

As for the specific points...
'- Searching was unnecessarily hard. Why should you have to tab or click into a lot of different fields to do a search? Google and other search engines have shown that a single search box is almost always enough. Requiring that you type additional data in separate boxes was just overkill.'

A single search box may be fine for Google type searches...but we all know they return too many useless results. And the extra search boxes were not 'required' fields... they allowed the user THE CHOICE of how to best accomplish their search by deciding where to start. All I know for sure is that my searches are no longer very quick in returning results and I end up with less of them.

'- Sharing wasn't very clear. Inadvertant sharing was a HUGE issue. People accidentally shared all kinds of material. The new version takes a huge leap in making sharing very explicit.'

Seriously?? Sounds like a stupidity issue to me. If you don't know what files you're sharing....maybe put down the computer before you hurt yourself.

As far as 'community' goes...I believe there was a chat feature available to those that wanted it. IMO the Gmail, Facebook, etc stuff should be add-ons that the user can CHOOSE...to avoid the 'clutter' that you spoke of before.

Bottom line....I just wanted the same reliable, fast, easy-to-use Limewire...with maybe a few improvements, and the new version is slow and tedious. I,...like many others I know....have switched back to 4.18.8. I hope that the problems can be addressed before users decide to go elsewhere.

[twl]

Limewire 4.18.8 Downloaded At http://www.filehippo.com/download_limewire/4669/

But I Just Need To Say From Limewire 5.0 to 5.4 Limewire Has Definantly Improved I Like didnt Limewire 5.0 Or 5.1 But Limewire V5.2+ They Have Made To Much Easier To Use And Made It Much Easier To Navigate Though Its Is Much Better To Recommend You Give That ago first.

There Is a new beta out now limewire 5.4 so theres more of an improvment to come!