SoftwareA big update for the very famous download-manager is right around the corner. For those who can’t wait I describe here how you can have it today.

The update brings a ton of interface-improvements. In a trice this is what caught my attention:

• JDownloader is still based on Java but the startup time of JDownloader 2 is vastly shorter
• The settings-list isn’t encapsulated anymore
• the size of the captcha-window can be changed
• you can create different rules to be applied to your downloads based on filename, -size, -type, hoster etc. There are a lot of different rules like putting something in a special directory or starting downloads automatic for files where a certain rule applies. The possibilities are nearly endless as the screenshot at the bottom of this article proves
• filters can be created for the Linkgrabber
• DLC-files can be created directly with the Linkgrabber

So how do install this bastard?

There is no update-package available currently so you’ll have to use the new JDownloader-Updater. You can download it here:

JDownloader 2b Updater (921.4 kB) - 9605 hits

Extract the contents of this archive to any location. I chose C:\JDownloader.

You have to execute Updater.jar now. I did this by opening the windows commandline, switching to the folder containing java.exe  (for me it is “C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin” in Windows 7 x64). Start die jar-file by executing the following command!

java -jar C:\JDownloader\Updater.jar

You have to insert your path to the Updater.jar if it doesn’t match mine of course. If you did everything correctly (and have a recent Java Runtime Environment installed) the new Updater starts and downloads the new JDownloader to the same folder (ca. 30MB).

Click on “Start JDownloader” and enjoy the whole AeroGlass magnificence!

The About-dialog confirms that this is in fact JDownloader 2 Beta.

Personally I feel at home with the new look. Especially the download-rules are a major addition.

A few additional screenshots