I have tried every search type possible now, and in all cases, I still get the number of found entries in a grey tab up top, however NOTHING below when i click on any tab with found entries.... not even the filenames at all.

This is definately a weird bug. I've used limewire since version 1 and have never seen this before. I'm not sure what spawned this bug in 2.8.6, but I posted it also to the Beta forum and hope a developer takes note of it. The fact that 2.8.5 also didnt work when reloaded, makes me think its not so much a beta issue though.

I'm not sure what to try next to fix it. I have even tried to install into an entirely new directory. That didnt change a thing. I hope i don't have to abandon limewire and move to the other big download machine... limewire is much cleaner and more professional in my opinion than the competition. But we do need something that works, and mine is definately broken now. I had it working for a few days though. So I'll just wait and watch for someone to give new suggestions on fixes. Thanks for your notes above!