Okee doke...

Though you may just have been ranting, it sure seemed like you were wanting help. (I guess my reading and comprehension skills are lacking.) I tried to help. Sorry.

I tried to appoach each item you brought up with what works for me (or what I have read) to get rid of them (or the frustrations of them). I didn't see your post that you had fixed your display problems as I was replying at the same time.

As for the link to a previous post that I had replied to, it turned out to be a different problem. That poster was getting NO columns. No Quality, #, Name, Size... nothing. I didn't realize that at first, so, no, control-click wouldn't help in that case.

I am also using Mac, OS 9.1, G4, Cox high speed internet. I am using LimeWire v2.8.2 not 2.8.6 so I don't know if it doesn't work anymore, but I just ran LimeWire to confirm for me: To do a re-search, I command-click on the Tab heading for the particular search item I want to repeat. A menu comes up and the option to Repeat Search is there. But, I know, that's not the answer you are looking for. So, feel free to ignore it. Maybe it'll help someone else. If this is a bug in 2.8.6, then, again, I am sorry. I wasn't aware of that. As 2.8.6 seems to be quite "buggy" in alot of other ways, others have suggested rolling back to an older version, as I read you are considering (Yes, I do read the posts). Most are suggesting 2.7.13, but I, personally, have not had any of these problems with 2.8.2. Just a lack of successful downloads. But, I think that's pretty standard in all versions now.

I hope you find a version that works for you.