Which software download sites do you trust?

Wilders members, please list your favorite places to download freeware or shareware that is safe.

These are the only one's I trust and recommend to anyone...

filehippo.com
filehorse.com
majorgeeks.com
softpedia.com
downloadcrew.com

 

None. I never go to third-party websites to download software.

 

Go to the developer's site, first.

 

my first choice, otherwise:

• Softpedia
• SnapFiles
• MajorGeeks
• FileHippo

And since I use Linux extensively, any of the mainstream repositories.

 

Softpedia, mainly because of their 100% Clean award, I always check, if the new software it is listed on Softpedia.
Not to mention, great categorization, like trial or free, shareware or adware and the www.softpedia.com/hubs
Lastly, I use it as an update notifier via email, since KCSumo has become too bothersome. My watchlist.

 

Same list, with the exception of filehorse.com. Never heard of it. In many years of using the other 4, I have NEVER downloaded a bad file from any of them. If folks don't trust 3rd party sites that is their right, but I will continue to use them without worry. Especially majorgeeks.com, which is a site I visit multiple times a day. I've always liked the option on filehippo.com to download previous versions, but they have gotten a little excessive with the ads.

 

I prefer to use the publishers site rahter than 3rd party download sites, for the following reasons:
I'm sure you I'm getting the most recent version of the software. Sometimes the listings on download sites are not up to date.

More often than not when I download an installer, I use the download manger FlashGet to download it rather than my browser. This means I can use FlashGet later on to check for an updated version of the installer. I use FlashGet daily to check for updates for a lot of programs. Often I visit Softpedia to find about new software releases, and then visit the actual publishers websites to download them.

I do however sometimes download from Softpedia abd MajorGeeks, and they only host the original installers. So, if there are any unwanted extras included with the installer, they have been put their by the publisher of the software themselves, as Softpedia and MG do not modify the installers.

 

That's a given, but i've never downloaded an infected file from the one's in my personal list.

 

None.

 

As for the majority of my software, I rely on the original source (the developer's site), but if I have a justified reason to download from a third-party...here are my choices.

DownloadCrew
PortableApps
SnapFiles
Softpedia

 

Developer.
Nsane.

 

Not sure about any of those sites except MajorGeeks, however, MGs includes the developer's site if that is what you prefer. The advantage of Geeks is it's lightening fast compared to some developer's sites!

 

Dev site, Fosshub.

 

Interesting... Worth a look!
http://www.howtogeek.com/207692/yes...oad-site-is-serving-crapware-heres-the-proof/

 

Thanks for this, @HAN. I've yet to see this bundled crapware from any of the d/load sites I trust, but I'll keep my eyes peeled for it.

 

@HAN That is an old article, and download.com and SourceForge no longer provide their own modified installers, and just provide the original ones. I'm not sure about Tucows, since I don't use it.

In the examples shown in the article at HTG, only the installers from Sourceforge and Tucows (and maybe download.com) are adding extras. The rest is all added by the software publisher. In the case of Softpedia and MajorGeeks, they clearly state if a download comes bundled with anything else.

Probably 99% of the time, it is very easy to install free aplications without getting any unwanted extras, by paying attention during the install and unselecting any option to install extras. One exception which comes to mind, is free software from Auslogics, which will install Boost Speed unless you select the option to do a custom install. This certainly not suprising behaviour considering it is Auslogics.

 

they should've never done that in the first place. both have fallen from grace.

 

[QUOGTEgoogl

="Overkill, post: 2574214, member: 125852"]Wilders members, please list your favorite places to download freeware or shareware that is safe.

These are the only one's I trust and recommend to anyone...

filehippo.com
filehorse.com
majorgeeks.com
softpedia.com
downloadcrew.com[/QUOTE]

 

good lists, to which i would add download.com - just watch the crapware

 

I will never use download.com again.

 

So Sourceforge is "safe" nowadays? Some binaries are not readily available at dev's site and they often link directly to SF.

 

@new2security Yes it is.
New SourceForge owners kill contentious DevShare bloatware program

 

Great thead OP, I've been wondering the same question.

Agreed. A software site I recently visited suggested you download their content from a Sourceforge link rather than their own, strange?

 

That's to reduce network traffic on their own servers.

 

Oh that makes sense. "Sigh of relief"