JDownloader: A Heavyweight Download Manager

JDownloader is a free (GPL-licensed), open source download manager. It's written in Java and therefore platform independent, which means you can use it on Windows, Linux or OS X. It's a heavyweight application that aims to be the one-stop solution to all your downloading problems. It's feature-packed, well-supported and extensible via addons. It's even multilingual. But the most important piece of information hasn't been mentioned yet - the feature that really sets JDownloader apart from its endless competitors - the hoster and decryption plugins. They make JDownloader a download manager worthy of recommendation.

As far as the core features go, it offers what you'd expect from a download manager - you add links, it downloads them. You can download as many at once as you'd like, you're free to adjust the number of connections per file, the number of downloads at a given time and the overall download speed.

I've mentioned it's multilingual, and even though quite a few languages are marked as "unfinished" in the menu, it's still impressive for a simple application. If you think you're stuck with a single interface skin because it's a Java program, you're wrong - you have so much choice you'll probably never see all of them before you grow annoyed by the need to restart the program to see the change. I recommend you scout the skins out here if you're feeling unhappy with the default look.

What are hoster and decryption plugins?

Have you ever tried downloading a file and ended up with the HTML page that linked to that file, or something equally unwanted? Well, that's how most hosting services work. That link you get when you upload a file is fine for your browser, it will redirect you and the download will start. However, if you try using it with a download manager, it won't work, because the program doesn't know what to do with it.

JDownloader, on the other hand, does know what to do with it, thanks to those plugins. They decipher such uncooperative links, and not just them, but even link protection services (including the ad-laden ones). You just copy a link (it's enough to copy it to the clipboard and the program will add them automatically to the link list), occasionally type in an answer to a CAPTCHA (JDownloader has its own OCR module, so it recognizes quite a few CAPTCHAs) and forget about it until it's done.

This, of course, requires a plugin for the service you're downloading from, but with 110 hoster and 300 decryption plugins, they've probably got you covered, even with fairly new services. Needless to say, you may use JDownloader with any service you're paying for as well, or perhaps find a hoster through its list of recommended services. 

The Settings tab contains all the options that have been mentioned, and it's fairly self-explanatory. The Basics tree contains general, interface and Internet connection settings, and here you can choose a different skin, change the language or set the default directory for all downloads. The Modules tree could have been better organized, as the reconnection settings would have felt more natural under the Internet settings, but once again, it's simple enough, and here you can change CAPTCHA settings and enter frequently used file passwords. Finally, under Plugins & Add-ons you can see all the hoster plugins and modify related options, add, remove or buy premium accounts, and configure extensions.

JDownloader comes with a number of extensions, though not all of them are enabled by default. These add various functionalities, such as splitting files, extracting them from archives, shutting down the computer when downloads finish, scheduling download at a certain time, and so on.

I came across JDownloader when I needed an application to deal with DLC files. Those files are link containers, and they're convenient for uploaders as they can offer a single file instead of listing a ton of links, but not so convenient for users unaware of how to use them. Of course, JDownloader handles them effortlessly, so I continued using it for the features discussed above.

The ease of selecting a bunch of links and not worrying about timers, not cluttering the browser with a million tabs, just letting downloads finish quietly in the background - all this makes JDownloader invaluable, especially if you plan to download a significant number of files. Add to that the fact it's easy to integrate it with browsers (this doesn't depend upon the browser's Java plugin, no security worries here) and you've got a winner.