Now, click on the eighth word and try to figure out how to actually download. I'll wait. (And compare it to a modern site, say, firefox.com or chrome.com.)
Or, under the <h1> title "Downloads", the bolded table header "Download from" with the "Download from this site" link.
Good design doesn't require a huge, centred, flashing "DOWNLOAD!" button. This seems clear and uncluttered enough to me.
- The large, bolded "Click to download" text isn't clickable, like pretty much every other "Click to..." prompt you've seen.
- After a moment of confusion you think oh okay, there'll be a list of links to places I can download it from then. But there isn't. There's just the product logo. Download the product from itself, maybe? But why is it written like there's supposed to be a list? Hm.
- Oh wait, after "Download the latest version" there's a separate section called "Downloads", that's where the downloads must be.
- Okay, down there after a while there's bold text that says "Download", but that's not clickable, nor is the text next to it that says "Sandboxie Installer." Keep reading.
- Ah, okay, here's a table with a single row for some reason, with a nice link "Download from this site."
- Wait, why did "Download from this site" take me to a completely different site? The address in the bar is totally different, the design is totally different, I've never heard of this new site before and it wants me to give them my job title, full name, company name, and zip code. Is this a popup ad? Is this a scam? I thought I was downloading it from that site I was just on.
Incidentally it doesn't matter as the form doesn't understand my country's zip code system and won't accept it.
I suppose it may just boil down to a fundamental difference of opinion; I don't really think it's necessary for every website to try to accommodate entirely non-tech savvy users — especially a site offering software that already assumes existing technical ability (if you can't negotiate an antiquated download page, you're probably going to struggle to use a lot of software of that era, including Sandboxie).
Also, I can find the download link in maybe 5 seconds, but I bet my father who happens to be an aging software engineer, savvy enough to use this but getting slower, definitely can’t.
I personally have a project that is in it's early stages and the worst thing that could happen right now is that it goes viral and then I won't be able to work on it at my own pace anymore. Having a user base of 3 people is already tiring enough as it is.
And I hope you never lose half of your family to cancer within a 2 year period, like I dod. But, should that happen, you might appreciate what that word means. But I wouldn't call you "stupid" just because you don't get it. I'd say that we have different life experiences and assumptions.
A giant "download" button is perfect if your general audience is "everyone". Sandboxie is _nowhere near that level of popular_ nor could it be. Heck, that's literally why it's going open source right now: it's so niche, with such a narrow demographic, that there's isn't even any appreciable amount of money to be made from the people that DO use it.
nowadays people will probably miss the download link by mistaking it with some advertisements or something similar. they look just like it nowadays...
though back then, the ads where mostly Flash so you it wasnt auto-filtered by your brain like it is now :)