This version is the single greatest improvement in the history of Limewire and perhaps in P2P.

Factoring in the sum of all that P2P was and now is again, Limewire has restored features and useability I have not seen in years, perhaps close 7 years or so. Although I can't say I tried every version, I have used P2P since 1999/2000 or so. The driving force for me back then was to replace media stolen from my car. In other words, my interpretation of the contentions heard from the music industry's lawyers and PR is that since I own a CD, I have the right to the content. I replaced as many tracks as I could from my loss of about 200 CDs. I had a changer in the trunk and well, I also play guitar since I was a teen so I always have music with me for almost everything I do.

Anyway, back then it was really important to me to get quality copies and not have to wait around forever to get at least a preview to QA the tracks before DL'in the files. If I was unable to verify the track, in the worst case I may lose an opportunity to replace it from a different source(s). The best P2P before the Napster lawsuits did allow dowloading from multiple peers, and previewing. With enough peers, having dozens of users to share meant that at any given time, the host did not lose any significant bandwidth, but I was usually able to get the files faster than it would take to play it. IOW, you choose the file, hit the preview and you get the track to play without interruption.

So that is my expectation, or rather my "hope" to be able to have that for most files I want. For many years, it was difficult to get that consistently. Bearshare had some glory years, but then it turned to trash. Lots of other wannabe Napsters also tried, but it was all about their "mission" to make money. Of course I can never criticize the effort to make money, but the point is that the user then determines if the "value proposition" leads to my use / purchase.

Since I downloaded Limewire 5.2.13, the "value proposition" is now without question worth the money they are charging. I did consider working on the development, but I never found the time to set everything up. I considered paying for a license in the past, and it was not that I did not think it was worth it, but when factoring in my own financial circumstances, only then did I hesitate.

At this point, I absolutely believe the license is worth it many times over. I am also unaware of any "peers" (competition, sorry, I couldn't help it). What I mean is that all of the other P2P choices are not in the same league. Truthfully, Limewire is in a class of its own, now even superior to any version of Napster.

Congratulations to the development teams, and all who helped make this what it is today. Open Source is clearly able to do more than compete, Limewire has proved that an Open Source project can rule an entire product category. Nobody can touch it, and I do not see how a commercial software developer could even consider trying.

"I love you guys, man" (platonic love, of course)





P2P is BACK and better than ever!