Recently the LimeWire team has been taking a new approach to R&D, using prototypes to test ideas for new features. After two months locked away in a smoke-filled chatroom, we're proud to announce the availability of our first four prototypes:

LAN Mode: a version of LimeWire that can run entirely within a home/office/college LAN, sharing files between local users without connecting to the outside world. Go to Tools > Options > Advanced to enable LAN mode.

Index of /prototypes/lan-mode

Restricted geolocation: avoid spammers, protect your privacy or find more locally relevant content by connecting to peers from certain countries. Go to File > Configure Peers... to nominate your axis of evil (or good).

Index of /prototypes/geo-restrict

Lightweight LimeWire: we slimmed down this prototype as much as possible by removing rarely used features. Startup time and memory usage should be improved, and hopefully you won't notice what's missing.

Index of /prototypes/lightweight

Related files: based on research from the University of Turin, this prototype uses your feedback about files you've downloaded to improve the ranking of search results. Download and rate some files and see whether it can learn your taste.

Index of /prototypes/related-files

Please have a play and let us know what you think!

Cheers,
Michael (on behalf of the client network team)