Then why not include an option to shut-down the computer after transfers?

Yes, but the longer you leave LimeWire open the better a connection it makes. Shutting down your computer generally is not necessary as it is more likely to break sooner. A disadvantage to leaving it on is electricity costs but for a computer it normally isn't too great.

This might sound like a flimsy claim but searching the Internet should turn this up.

I agree. I usually leave my computer running. It's better for the computer anyway. I do turn off the monitor, though, when I'm not using the PC. In fact the last thing before I go to bed I usually start a CD ripping. When I get up in the morning I start another CD ripping, which is usually finished before I leave for work. Then I start one more ripping and walk out the door to go to work. This takes very little work and means, if I rip nothing else during the day, I still get 3 CD's ripped every day with a total of about 3 minutes of my time. When I run out of CD's, I'm going to hit the library and keep right on ripping. I've bought hundreds of CD's so I feel no guilt about ripping. If I really like an album, I'm going to buy it anyway eventually. What the record companies don't seem to realize is that file sharing is really free promotion and advertising for them, which in the end will probably lead to more not less sales. File sharing enables people to really try before they buy. I have found lots of new music that interests me through random downloads.

Yes, I don't want to go far OT but monitors (at least CRTs) should be turned off or set to sleep when not in use.