Simple to use site - free downloads on tap I came across Downloadster.org looking for a site to get hold of the VLC media player I'd read about. The first page I clicked to from Google was the download page for just that player. Super easy, no mucking about. The player is free to download as advertised, no nasty surprises. The process itself is easy - it only took a few minutes to complete if that - and I was up watching my videos moments later. The interface is simple and intuitive, but if you want something more bespoke, you can add a skin to it and customize it yourself. The site isn't all that big. It focuses on providing free downloads of some of the key applications almost everybody uses. So, you can get hold of a PDF reader, the OpenOffice suite and an impressive compression application called 7zip, each from its own single download page. Navigation is really straightforward too - just scroll to the menu at the bottom of the site and you can basically get anywhere from there.

Media player, nice product but needs a different layout To start, the layout of downloadster.org is okay. When I stumble on websites like this, I typically write them off as some sort of scam. There seems to be too much going on and I don’t usually like to waste my time. Because of this, I would recommend simplifying the downloadster.org website. It is a nice looking website, but I can see people like me being turned away when they’re used to scams for “free products” which really just turn out to be some sort of virus. This product is only for windows, so that imposes limitations. I would try to open up the product, as a lot of people my age are working on macs. However, the product itself is a very nice one. If we’re going off of that, I have no complaints. I know I have had issues in the past with wrong file types that will not play on my computer, and this product can help. It is able to play many different types of files, which is a great addition. It would be very nice for downloading a movie that may not be the typical file, and things of that sort.

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.

VLC Media Player Download My family and I just came back from vacation and wanted to watch the videos we recorded. We were really looking forward to it but our Windows Media Player kept on crashing. I did a quick search for other media players out there and discovered VLC Media Player. I did another search for the download and found Downloadster. It only offers this one software so I didn't have to do a lot of reading. I knew what I was looking for and quickly hit the "Free Download" button. My family watched our videos shortly after and the media player worked great. This site was just what I needed.

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.