My Top 6 Download Annoyances
Capping download rates. Asus...Oh, Asus. Some days I just want to fly over to Taiwan and slap you right in the mouth. Do they not realize that it works out the same whether I download for 2 hours at 9k or 4 minutes at 256k? I actually stopped building with their mainboard partially because of the crappy download speeds.
Falsely advertise as being free. I subscribe to a number of free software feeds, and there's nothing worse than seeing a cool application show up that someone has called free just to get it listed. You're not helping your app's popularity. In fact, you're probably turning off just about anyone that might have wanted to use it because they're ticked that the download was either stripped-down or only a trial.
Download a download manager first. Thankfully, I haven't seen the Adobe Download Manager in quite some time, but there are others out there. I don't need or want your help downloading. If I need help resuming my download, I've got DownThemAll, thanks.
Trying to sneak toolbars on to your system. I'm willing to admit that most reputable apps give you a pretty obvious warning during the install, but it's still annoying. Even good ol' CCleaner does it. Offer a second installer with a toolbar for those who want to support your free app that way, and let the rest of us donate on our own.
Downloading other apps you didn't ask for. Apple, I'm talking to you. It's been talked about before, and I'd really like it if iTunes would lay off with the "Oh hey, I heard you guys wanted to try out Safari" business. If I let the iTunes updater run, it's probably because I want iTunes updated, not because I'm hoping Apple decided their nifty new application is something I just can't live without.
Uninstallers that don't work. Yes, I've got Revo Uninstaller and the hunter mode works great. That's not the point. If the installer works for your app, don't let me catch your uninstaller popping up error messages about not being able to remove something. Maybe your theory is "my app is so cool, no one will ever want to uninstall it!" Well, you're wrong, and the least you can do is make it easy for people to remove whatever your application brought with it.
What about you? What puts a burr under your saddle?
