I've yet to hear anything regarding the reason why the new version won't connect by itself, or to even get a confirmation that they received the "bug report" I sent in.

I too liked Limewire a great deal, and even recommended it to all my friends. However, since the new version has bombed for me I've went back and told them all. I'm using WinMX now, and will continue to do so unless LimeWire's programmers can have a look into this...