Study reveals: LimeWire still king of P2P software; uTorrent follows on No. 2

LimeWire, which we can call an old timer in the peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing landscape, keeps its top position as the most popular application for sharing music, video and software — licensed or not — via the Internet, according to a study released Wednesday, ComputerWorld informs.

It seems that 17.8% of computers were using LimeWire in September last year, as revealed by the latest Digital Media Desktop Report. If we do a little math -as almost half of surveyed computers have at least file-sharing program installed, that means LimeWire represents 36.4% share — compared to only 11.3% share of the next-most-popular client, namely µTorrent.

LimeWire was first released in 2000 and came as an alternative to the pioneering Napster MP3 sharing network. It kept its loyalties long time with the slower Gnutella network only, but recently it moved on to an upgrade that makes it possible to its users to search and share files using BitTorrent as well.

Although similar to Napster, LimeWire had been dragged in many lawsuits initiated by music companies and the RIAA, it managed to came out as a survivor and a very adaptable one. This because last month LimeWire LLC announced it plans to go at least partly legal, as it happened with the company behind BitTorrent, l. then it followed a beta version of the LimeWire Store resembling Apple Inc.'s iTunes store, where users can purchase tracks online. What sets it apart from iTunes, however, is the fact that LimeWire Store put its music up for sale with no DRM copyright restrictions.

LimeWire is not the only one that managed to keep its crown, the Gnutella network to which LimeWire users connect, has also the most numerous fans owning 40.5% of the market. Besides LimeWire, BearShare and FrostWire
also got into the report's top 13 as Gnutella software.