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The new Subscriber Downloads Navigation tool is nice looking, cool, and innovative. But it is hard to use. Navigating around a vast array of software using popup menus is difficult and makes software hard to find. Honestly, it's kindof irritating.

Endless treeviews is do not help either because it forces you to navigate through a bunch of categories narrowing down your list before you can see anything. How can you discover anything new?

The problem is that there is lots of information and we, as developers, need to see lots of it at the same time while being able to zero in on what were looking for. This is difficult to present, I understand. But that is what cross-referencing is for. :)

Let me start searching with a list of categories: Servers, Applications, whatever--but show the whole top-level list. Use tabs or just list them on the page But, in contrast to a popup discovery where you have to figure out every category before you can see anything useful, present me with everything and let me filter.

So, if I click Servers, show me a list of all servers with a filter on in the sidebar. Take a look at newegg.com. Start by searching for memory (RAM). The web app will start by showing you all of the RAM they have for sale (punctuated by Specials or Featured Products) -- you do the same thing. Note that in the left sidebar there is a list of types of memory: Desktop Memory, Flash Memory, etc. As you click one of those types, you're presented with a filtered list and the sidebar changes again.

In addition to this there is a Breadcrumbs navigation tool at the top to show you where you are in the search. You can also search at any time.

Given the large, and growing, amount of software you have to show, and the need/desire to highlight specific applications (like Recently Added), the newegg.com way of displaying, searching, and navigating would make sense. Keep in mind also that newegg (I don't work for them, btw) is serves the same audience you do.

Thanks for letting me leave feedback. I hope I wasn't too harsh.

Curtis -- clrgray on my gmail account

Looking at the downloads for XP and Vista, there seem to be multiple instances of the same product. I think I counted 3 sets of  XP Professional (both x86 and x64). Each with exactly the same CRC/SHA.

Plus, where are the keys for XP N. I an offered XP KN and XP K, but XP N is missing. FWIW, I am in europe, so I would expect to see these keys.

[Chris responds: With regard to your first item, it was a bug in our system and has been fixed with our latest code deployment (which is in production now).  The Windows XP Keys work for both the regular versions of XP as well as the N version - there are no separate keys for XP N.]

Chris: Thanks for fixing the bug.

It would have been useful to have known that plain XP keys work for N ;) - I would suggest that a note is needed on the XP N download. I had assumed that as there were separate keys listed for K & KN that the same applied to N.

BTW, does this apply to Vista too (ie plain keys work for N)?