Free applications in one place Downloadster is a one stop shop for your basic PC needs. The interface is bright and well designed, and the software provided is all free and from reputable companies (7zip, Openoffice, VLC, etc). The site is a little hard to navigate, just in that it defaulted to VLC media player, and you don’t see the other software options unless you page all the way down to the bottom, and then they are just single text entries, rather than a button, so some users might miss them. Other than that, Downloadster has a great selection of free software. The software in question also covers all of the standard needs that a Windows user might have. These apps also tend to be the recognized standards for whatever particular use they are intended for. It is rather nice to have all of these applications in a single location, free of viruses, and not have to search all over the web.

VCL player download made easy! I found this website very easy to navigate as the way it is set out is very user friendly. I found the site very bright and modern with an attracting front page. I liked the way it was broken down into easy to read and understand sections starting with the overview on the left. This gave me a brief idea of what video formats could be used with the VLC player download, This is expanded on below in the supported format section which gave me a comprehensive breakdown of all supported video and audio formats. On the right is a section that gives you the main features and abilities on the download. The VLC player itself was easy to access and to download and comes complete with helpful add ons such as toolbars for your computer. I found the “learn more” option at the top to be helpful as it allowed me to read more about the product before I did any actual downloading.

Finally, a VLC player that works!! My older brother (computer geek) usually makes sure the home computer is updated and has the latest software. For the most part I wouldn’t bother with updating software, until he went to college. Then I was on my own. I survived for a while, until the version of VLC Media Player I had a bug, and it constantly crashed during playback. My brother wasn’t around anymore; it was time to grow up. The first few sites I tried that claimed to have the “latest VLC player” turned out to be a bust. Then I stumbled upon downloadster.org. Clean site, no annoying advertisements, good overview on the software, and very helpful reviews. Plus, they regularly update their software, and illuminate important changes to new versions. Suffice to say, my current version of VLC Media Player works smooth, and I’m able to play any format of music. Kudos downloadster.org!

Bundled with adware Hash (authentification) codes for VLC don't match up with the real site; downloaded from this site out of curiosity and had the headache of removing all the other annoying programs that came with it.

Simple and Straight-forward Downloading Stumbled upon this site when I was googling for an alternative to Adobe’s PDF reader. I was quite hesitant at first since a quick glance at the site suggests another barrage of those pesky surveys to fill-up. Surprisingly enough, there were no surveys to fill up when I download the program (TidyView). The experience was pretty smooth and straight-forward: you download an install manager (compliant with the developers’ request) and it’s pretty much automatic from there. No registrations needed. There are several other open-source programs that are up for free download, too. What some may miss is a search function since all the programs are at the foot of the page. This isn’t exactly a deal-breaker, but it is quite cumbersome to not download programs the way we’re all used to. The site’s design is clear but flawed- when you click on the program, the site apparently adapts the program’s theme/color scheme which feels pretty inconsistent and somehow cheapens the overall experience. Nothing huge but worth noting, anyway. With its simple design, Downloadster.org does one service and fortunately does it well without the red-tape.