Like several others have said, Mathusalem or something like it should be the real way forward. Especially since it could and should work for many other things as well, including other browsers for those who mix and match. Good list of use cases and other info here: http://live.gnome.org/Mathusalem

I think my initial thought was that no matter where I am downloading a file to I want the Nautilus graphics “magic” of a percentage bar drawn atop the file that is downloading.

And if I won’t be forced to use the Downloads folder (by letting me choose a different download destination) I’m actually also coming round to the idea of the default, prescribed, Downloads folder too. Though it isn’t something I would use (I’m sure I’d end up with with lots of clutter in it very quickly).

So long as I have the choice not to use it therefore, I do agree with you and think it would be an immense improvement over the current clunky Downloads dialog. My fiancee finds that box so confusing!! I just find it irritating.

There remains the question of whether a Nautilus view of the folder should be launched when the download begins or completes… I’d say when it begins, would you agree?

1. when you do the download, ask the user where they’d like to download it to
2. download it to one known place and then allow the user to move it

Both of those are the same amount of work, in my opinion, and I think (2)’s better because (a) it allows you to do all the “move things to the right place” work in a big batch, rather than every time, and (b) it makes “download this link” easy, because you just say “download the link” and don’t have to specify where to.

Epiphany already implements “download this link” which saves it in a pre-specified location, so the first half of this is already how it works. I’m just suggesting that we do the second half as well, thus making this feature even more useful.

But I’d like to see the download destination folder opening when the download starts. That way I could watch the download completing in the destination folder itself (like, I gather from your suggestion, the file would have some graphic representing download completion percentage).

Personally I wouldn’t like a dedicated downloads folder like you suggested.

Cheers

Then, rather than opening the Downloads dialog, Nautilus could possibly launch the containing folder of my download (and select the file I’m downloading). That would be desktop integration imho.