Remember that the Gnutella network that LimeWire connects to is also host to many other gnutella programs. LW certainly can browse easier with FW & LW & Phex clients easier than the others. But the later the version, usually the better the chances of successful browses (excluding all other potential barriers such as traffic, bandwidth & slots available, etc.)

I did forget to answer about ultrapeers ... yes those who are such who add so much without the need for sharing although many do anyway. If you can be an ultrapeer, then that stops the fear of sharing I guess if you live in that type of environment. I certainly don't. I generally keep LW running for 3-5 days or longer. This may also depend upon apple's implementation of Java which is less than ideal. But I generally only reboot once or twice a fortnight. So if I can or could ... I'd keep LW running for much longer for sharing.