Download managers seemed more important in days of slower Internet connection speeds, where maximizing your Kbps was vital. They still come in handy for pulling down big files, but things like BitTorrent clients seem to fill a big part of that gap. If you need to accelerate your downloading, here are some great reader selected choices.
Reader's Choice: Free Download Manager (FDM) secures the top spot in the Download Manager's category with 33% of reader votes. FDM speeds up downloads by splitting them into multiple parts and also resumes interrupted downloads. FDM is capable of acting as a BitTorrent client. Flash video download support makes it easy to grab favorite videos from YouTube. A recently added upload feature extends functionality to make FDM two way.
2) FlashGet received 15% of reader votes. This classic download app does the standard multi-threaded acceleration common to the download manager category. It supports all the standard download options including FTP, HTTP, RSTP, and eMule. One key feature that separates FlashGet from the pack is the ability to automatically call on your antivirus software to check for infestations in your recently downloaded apps.
3) DownThemAll (dTa), a handy Firefox extension for managing downloads placed third with readers, receiving 11% of votes. dTa works similar to other apps in this category, with the exception that it integrates directly into Firefox instead of being a standalone solution. Downloads are accelerated using similar methods and it increases download speeds dramatically over using the built-in download manager.
9% of readers indicated they use the default download manager in their browser, which is likely closer to 15% if you also include the people who said they don't use a download manager. 69 additional software applications received at least one vote in the download manager category.
