jDownloader Editor's Review

jDownloader is a complete file downloader and manager which offers support for download sites and social networks such as Rapidshare, Megaupload, Fileserver, Hotfile, Facebook, Myspace, etc. With jDownloader you can kiss goodbye to the pop-up windows, AdSense boxes and to download links hidden into a maze of useless ads. You just need the download link, and rest of the detection and parsing process will be performed automatically.

Jdownloader comes with full support regarding free or premium file sharing accounts. You can save and manage any of your accounts directly into the aplication's interface. In case you want to use a free account, JDownloader comes also with captcha support and counter. Being designed for file sharing sites, the application can also import CCF, RSDF and DLC files.

The best way to use jDownloader is by loading multiple downloads, because it supports unlimited instances and you can also limit the bandwidth usage. Imagine that you can download in this way from different sources such as file share sites and social network sites simultaneaously. You can also schedule the download tasks, when to start, end, pause, or un-pause. The scheduler is actually an add-on for jDownloader and is part of a rather comprehensive add-ons list that includes: FlashGot for Firefox, HJSplit, Language File Editor, etc.

Although it looks fine, JDownloader is not an intuitive application. This drawback comes as a result of a not well thought interface which is based on a design similar to a torrent client. For each main process a new tab appears which has to be manager manually and all the modules are packed in a Windows 3.0 like menu.

Being a Java-based software, installing jDownloader might be a frustrating task in case you don't have the Java Runtime Environment already installed on your computer. At least version 1.5 should be installed.

Pluses: free, comprehensive, compact, premium account support for file sharing sites, captcha support, download links parser, add-on package, can handle multiple file downloads;

Drawbacks/flaws: counter-intuitive interface, needs Java Runtime Environment in order to run, no documentation;

In conclusion: Despite its not so intuitive interface, JDownloader can be considered a powerful rival to Orbit Downloader mainly because it supports the file sharing download system.

version reviewed: 0.9.581