Installing Limewire Basic is fairly
straightforward. You'll have to get past a bunch of skull and
crossbones warnings about the perils of P2P. The only thing that's
loaded is the program and Java runtime environment. If you decide to
uninstall Limewire, there will be some Java files left behind, and the
Java runtime environment will also remain.
Limewire Basic intentionally limits the number of
files found during searches. This (of course) was done to get you to
purchase Limewire Pro. The interface is fairly easy to use and ads are
pretty low key.
Limewire serves as a media librarian for your PC.
It displays music by artist, title, and other tags. The program also
previews and plays music files and uses Windows Media Player to show
video. It has a connection monitor where you can monitor incoming
searches of your shared folder, as well as track files being uploaded
from you by others. Limewire can also launch pages in a browser other
than Internet Explorer.
There isn't much in the way of online support for
Limewire Basic. You have to upgrade to Limewire Pro to e-mail a
developer or get live online support. However, the freely available
FAQ and downloadable PDF version of the user manual should get you
through any rough spots. There's also a user forum and that's probably
the best place to get answers to your questions.
Some Things to Look Out For
Copyright laws protect original works. Individuals
who reproduce, distribute copies, or receive copies other than their
own, without the consent of the owners, may be in violation of these
laws. You should never copy - or allow anyone to copy from you -
anything that is not produced for free public distribution. Be very
careful about this. The music industry has been especially aggressive
with copyright enforcement. Make sure you have the legal right to
download or upload material before proceeding. If in doubt, get legal
advice.
Setup Limewire very carefully. Make sure you don't
accidentally open your entire system to the outside world. Lock things
down tight. Be careful to only share certain folders, and that these
shared folders don't contain anything you don't want others to have
access to. This can't be stressed enough. Once something gets out on
the 'net, it goes everywhere and stays forever.
Watch out for pornography. A lot of this stuff is
mislabeled, and you get an unpleasant surprise when opening a file.
Limewire has an adult content filter, but it can only do so much. If
you have children that use Limewire (or any other P2P technology),
watch what they are doing.
Limewire, as distributed from trusted sites, is not
supposed to contain any type of spyware or adware. Never download
Limewire, or anything else, from a site you don't trust. After
downloading, and before install, run a good quality virus scanner
against the downloaded objects before proceeding. After install, do
another virus scan on your entire system.
Always have good, high quality anti virus software
running on your machine when using P2P. You don't want to be pulling
harmful files into your system. Sharing information is great, but only
if you protect yourself. Have fun, and be careful out there!