How Does LimeWire Work?

Introduction

Recently, peer-to-peer sharing programs like LimeWire have become extremely popular. However, the program has a few problems. For one, many users use the programs to illegally share music, video and program files. Because of this, the music and movie industry have filed many lawsuits against users of the peer-to-peer sharing programs.
Another criticism is the failure of these types of software companies to protect their users. Not only is malicious code being shared, but the personal information of the users is also compromised.
Despite the security risk and the threat of being sued, many people still use LimeWire to access files.

What Is LimeWire?

LimeWire is a free program that uses the Java platform for conducting peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P). The program uses the Gnutella network to find files to be shared from the computers of the users. For the most part, the free version is very effective and does not have an expiration period. However, LimeWire does offer a paid PRO version that claims to have more files and a higher download speed.
Features
LimeWire supports a number of operating systems, including Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Since the program is written in Java, any machine loaded with the Java Virtual Machine can run it. The newer version offers a filtering system that allows for safer, virus-free file sharing. LimeWire even comes completely bundled with spyware and adware.

How Does it Work?

The power behind LimeWire is the Digital Audio Access Protocol that it uses to share files between users. After installation, the user designates a folder that files will be downloaded into. This same folder will also be used to share files with other users. LimeWire searched this folder and lists all of the files it contains on the network. When someone logs into LimeWire and searches for a specific file, the software uses this list to find all of the files available that matched the search criteria. The user can then download the file right from the computers of other users. The more users that have access to the file, or have it listed on their computer, the faster the download will go.