Is their a place to get L/W 4.11.9 or so...the ones before deleted material went to the trash can instead of just being erased. The changes since have turned a sleek program into a clunky one [in my humble opinion]. Other changes have also seem to be "dumbing it down"...Any opinions? Or options?

LW versions 4.13 onwards (Beta versions) send files to the recycle bin after deletion. AFAIK these are the only versions to have ever had this feature
If you're interested, you can download the Beta (current version is 4.13.2) from the usual download page.
http://www.limewire.com/english/content/download.shtml
Or, from your personal download page if you have Pro.

You might be able to get the old LW version you're looking for here
http://oldapps.com/