Orbit Downloader - Forums

No, it hasn't been solved.  Have you downloaded 4.1.0.9 and tried it with Grab++ running or open while playing any videos at YouTube?  I have and it still doesn't work.

Worse, I used an archive of all versions of Orbit at filehippo.com.  This was over the past couple of hours and I tried all versions or releases going back to 4.0.0.1.  That's 16 releases, besides 4.1.0.8, 4.1.0.7 and 4.1.0.6, which I also tried. So I tested Grab++ with the past nearly 20 releases of Orbit.  Grab++ doesn't work at YouTube with any of these Orbit releases.

I had a functional version early this year, but don't recall what the release number was and I no longer have the installer among my backed up installers.

The other strange thing is that Orbit said this specific bug is fixed with 4.1.0.8, but it wasn't.  And Orbit then says the same thing again for 4.1.0.9 and it's still not fixed/corrected.  This is indicative of very poor QA work.

It's an important feature bug to correct, for without Grab++ properly functioning, Orbit doesn't stand out at all as a downloader.  Grab++ is what made Orbit stand out/apart from other downloaders for me.  As it is, presently, FDM and FlashGet can easily replace Orbit because Orbit doesn't provide better and they provide more, at least for the user interface anyway.  With those two downloaders, download links can be stored in category folders, like for media, software and music, f.e.  I was willing to not have that feature in exchange for a functional Grab++, but it's evidently been disfunctional for the past 20 versions of Orbit, if including 4.1.0.9.  I really wonder what Orbit version I was still using early this year, for Grab++ was working at YouTube.

I hoped to be able to find the last version in which Grab++ worked at YouTube and wasn't successful; and  am not going to test any older than 4.0.0.1.

Orbit Software Updater

Orbit should leave aside the annoying Software Updater, because that's not a function of a download application and it's popup is very ANNOYING.  There're applications specifically made for scanning a user's system to check if there're updates for installed softwares.  They're not download applications.  They might perform downloads for doing updates, but being a general use downloader is not their purpose.  A downloader should focus on well performing downloads. 

Grab++ is a main feature for Orbit DOWNLOADER (not software update checking) and it's the only thing that made Orbit stand out as a download manager. 

So Orbit needs to kill the damn Software Updater crap and to also get Grab++ working as it's supposed to be and was always intended to be. 

Orbit Software Updater is buggy

And the Updater is very BUGGY.  I never used it and never will, though might look over notifications to see what's listed, out of curiosity.  Updates will never be done using the Orbit Software Updater though and it's BUGGY.  It claims that there's an update for LibreOffice and it's supposedly LibreOffice 8.1.0.3028.  There is no such thing.  I downloaded the most current version of LO over the past few days and it's v3.5.4.  But LO is only one example among plenty of others for which Orbit's Software Updater is bs.  It says Dexpot 1.5.99 is available and there's no such thing.  I used the updater within Dexpot yesterday to update it and it's v1.5.17 build 1991.  Orbit says MediaInfo 1.0 is available and it definitely isn't.  The current version is 0.7.58.  ET CETERA.

The Software Updater was right for Cacheman and Cleanmem, but is very wrong about plenty of its so-called recommendations.  Plus users can see what the Software Updater links link to and hiding the real URLs in this manner is BAD MANNERS, very bad etiquette.  I would never make use of it, except to possibly look over the list of notifications in it once in a while, but very seldomly.

Separate the two ; apply KISS

If Orbit also wants to make a Software Updater, then it should be a separate application.  This would be to work according to the KISS principle in/of software development.  The Updater shouldn't be part of the downloader application and Grab++ should be made either functional or obsoleted, removed.  It's presently junkware.

Orbit should separate the two applications and work on them separately; rather than keeping them combined.  Applying KISS is the better approach.  Take Piriform.com, f.e.  They didn't combine ccleaner, defraggler, ... into a single application.  They made these separate applications.  It's far better to do it that way.  It makes maintaining the applications much less hazard-prone.  Each has a separate, distinct function.  A downloader and software update checker aren't the same thing.  A software update checker by Orbit could be created separately and there could be a Preferences option for setting which download application to use to perform downloads.  But the two applications would be separate and therefore independent.

The present approach is rather unprofessional for qualitative design, and it's bug-ridden.  The downloader works, but we have to copy download URL's and paste them in a new download creation dialogue box or window in Orbit. So the Orbit team is making Orbit increasingly unappreciable.  Orbit, including Grab++, worked well for many years, but suddenly began a nose-dive path many releases ago.  Maybe it's time to try to come back to the surface of usability, qualitative functionality.

My 2 cents worth

Last edited by Michel in Qc (2012-06-06 11:07:15 AM)

Fix: Error downloading from youtube - file size 1.70mb, you can download the youtube video by the getit button, but the grab++ and grabpro also can not download the video, our engineers are working to resolve this problem, the next version should be able to solve.
Thanks.

Thank you for the informative post.