Using a G4 also with 1 gig of RAM, I find that the 9.2.2 OS performs much better than the one running on OS 10.1.4 on the same machine.
Is it the Java that makes it run so cr*ppy? Argh, it's awful! In a year and two months of various versions of OS 10 and LimeWire (free and Pro), the ONLY crash I have ever had was while LimeWire was running.
The app itself did not "unexpectedly quit", just everything but the pointer stopped working. Forcing a reboot was the only way out.
Wishlist:

Please fix or abandon Java

Please put the "browse host" feature back