We have just released the LimeWire 2.9.0 alpha. We're calling it an "alpha" because it has so much new code that hasn't been tested on the wilds of the Gnutella network that we're going to extend the alpha/beta process slightly more than we normally would. That said, this version is loaded with new features, including:

- New "dynamic search" architecture will make Ultrapeers dynamically adjust their search based on how many results have been received. This frees up bandwidth by cutting off searches for popular content when enough results are received. For searches for rare content, it will send the search further on the network to ensure that you receive the results you're looking for.

- Indexing between Ultrapeers now allows Ultrapeers to only forward searches to their neighboring Ultrapeers when the neighboring Ultrapeers have matching content. This change should save about another 50% of network bandwidth over the old search architecture, leaving more bandwidth for rare content searches and for your downloads.

- MAGNET links. LimeWire now supports the MAGNET protocol. Using MAGNET, you can insert a link on a web site that will automatically wakeup LimeWire to search for and download the content specified in the link. In the future, this will mean that you will be able to click on a file in your library and select to e-mail a link to that file to a friend. When your friend clicks on the link, it will wakeup LimeWire and download the file directly. If you've ever had trouble e-mailing large files to your friends or associates, this will solve the problem!

- Local subnet searches -- LimeWire will now always search your local network for anyone sharing content with another LimeWIre. If you're in a dorm, on a corporate LAN, or on a wireless network at a conference, fire up your LimeWire to see what other people on the local network are sharing. The results will appear in special blue stars with the speed listed as "Ethernet." When you go to download these files, the speeds will be unmatched because the transer is happening locally.

- New LimeWire look -- new buttons, smaller icons, and a new feel make LimeWire sharper than ever.

- Improvements to the "download mesh" architecture will improve your download success rate and throughput.

We've added many more features and bug fixes, but there are so many that I can't quite keep track of them all! This version is also really a "beta" for LimeWire 3.0, which will include refined versions of all of these features. The search architecture changes in particular incorporate some of the latest ideas from the p2p research community, including more agressive use of indexing to decrease the average load on a given computer and the use of more connections between Ultrapeers to create a network less vulnerable to node leaves and joins, to save bandwidth on query hits by reducing the distance on the network they travel, and to reduce the latency of searches, so you get your results more quickly!

This is really the first installment of a series of radical improvements that promise to dramatically improve the searchability of the Gnutella network!

Thanks for everyone's support. We hope you like it. There are surely bugs with all the new code, so be patient with this version for a week or two -- we think it's features will soon impress you.

One last thing -- this won't be available for Mac 9.x and below until Monday -- our apologies for the delay.

-LimeWire Team

I have have been waiting for this release forever...i have 2 words thank you.

I did not really expect it today anymore.

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Morgens ess ich Cornflakes und abends ess ich Brot
Und wenn ich lang genug gelebt hab, dann sterb ich und bin tot

--Fischmob

whatcha mean?

I thought the release would be delayed till next monday when I did not see it earlier...

__________________
Morgens ess ich Cornflakes und abends ess ich Brot
Und wenn ich lang genug gelebt hab, dann sterb ich und bin tot

--Fischmob

First thing I noticed was that the block host feature works great (really speeds up ease of searching)--thanks Sam and trap_jaw--and so far, no "could not move to library" message.

trap_jaw, thanks for the pointers, updates and reports. It has been reassuring to know you've been monitoring developments.

Would anyone kindly suggest some tips for the most efficient way to report bugs to bugs@limewire.com? The http://www.limewire.org/project/www/bug.html looks to be for project members, but seems like the place to start finding out what issues need more info. I guess key words are "core" or "gui," but I'm not sure about the minimum platform/OS info--Some tips on key words to snip from OSX Console entries would be appreciated.

You will still see 'couldn't move to library' errors, when you are trying to download a file with an illegal character in its name (and without sha1 hash), but the error is shown when the download is started and not when it's near finished.

__________________
Morgens ess ich Cornflakes und abends ess ich Brot
Und wenn ich lang genug gelebt hab, dann sterb ich und bin tot

--Fischmob

Trap_Jaw,

I have been dragging my feet today on downloading 2.9. I am still kind of licking wounds from 2.8.5.

Have you tried 2.9 & if so any issues?

Norm

The ethernet connect worked very well, but then killed all my host connections on both machines. I quit both Limewires; mail client were able to reconnect several minutes later. Installation wasn't trouble free on both Macs (OS 10.2.4).

lookupd[273]: msg_send failed ((ipc/send) invalid destination port)
Quit

It's working well on Linux and Windows. Maybe there are some minor installer issues left but LimeWire itself *should* run without any major stability problems.

__________________
Morgens ess ich Cornflakes und abends ess ich Brot
Und wenn ich lang genug gelebt hab, dann sterb ich und bin tot

--Fischmob