As I expected, Download ANY/ALL caused much confusion. Here's the difference.

Download ANY puts all of the selected files into a single "smart downloader". The smart downloader will prioritize the files by speed and try them one at a time until any succeeds. If multiple files are exactly the same, it will swarm that file.

Download ALL puts each selected file into its own smart downloader and starts them all. Exception: any files in a search result group are put in a single smart downloader, like in the Download ANY case. Again, if a smart downloader has multiple identical files, it will swarm.

Note that search result grouping is approximate. So "aaaaa.txt" (1000KB) and "aaaaaa_.txt" (1001KB) will be put in the same group since they're SIMILAR. However, LimeWire will only swarm if two files are exactly the SAME. In other words, "same" files are (almost) always put in a single search result group, though entries within a group are not necessarily "same".

Typically "ANY" is useful if you're looking for something specific. For example, say I searched for "othello" and get back "shakespeare - othello.html" and "othello - shakespeare.html". LimeWire won't group these file as similar. However, either one will do for me, so I select both and hit Download ANY. This is more polite then simply starting both downloads in parallel, and it results in fewer incomplete files. Also, LimeWire won't let you start two downloads in parallel if the files have the same name.

Typically "ALL" is useful if you're looking for lots of things. For example, say I searched for "shakespeare" and get back "hamlet.html" and "othello.html". I want both files, so I select them all and hit Download ALL. Two downloaders start. Note that I could have also hit "ANY" for the first file then "ANY" for the second file.

-Christopher Rohrs