The Perfect Software Download Portal

When I’m thinking of download portals, I’m usually thinking of big sites like Softpedia or Major Geeks, that host millions of applications and other computer related downloads on their servers. There are specialized portals, smaller in size, like Betanews for instance, or the excellent Freeware BB.

I’m currently considering creating a software portal of my own, as I feel that many portals have gone a way that I do not like a lot as a user. Besides wrapping downloads into installers to make an extra buck, some software portals have also started plastering their pages with ads, and forcing the user to click through to the download page multiple times, to artificially increase page views and ad impressions.

I’m not a fan of these practices, and think that a clean portal could carve out a niche for itself quite easily.

Since I’m just getting started, I would like to use this ask the reader post to ask you what you would like to see in a download portal. While I can’t guarantee you that I will create the download portal after all, or manage to please all of you and your demands, I’m determined to make this the perfect software download portal when I make the decision to go ahead with it.

Here are requirements and features that I have thought of so far:

• Only free software, at least in the beginning, each program with extensive reviews and tests. This means that the portal won’t list software that has not been tested. While this improves the quality by a lot, it also means that it won’t cover as much software as the other portals out there.
• Virus check, all software will be checked extensively with multiple scanners before it is uploaded and served.
• Links to developer site placed prominently on page
• Lite advertisement, placed discreetly on site, no popups, no download wrappers, no doorway pages, or having to load five pages before a file can be downloaded. The main goal with the advertisement is to cover the running costs, which is hosting and bandwidth, as well as site administration and management (reviews and such).
• User interaction. I would like to see comments and a rating system at the very least.
• Clean design, easy to navigate. Make it easy for the user to find software.

Did I miss something? Let me know in the comments. Feel free to post suggestions, comments, or criticism. If you think this is a terrible idea, let me know why, I’d love to know.via[ghacks]