If you have ever downloaded something (the current utility OnyX comes to mind) that does
not have a meaningful progress bar (either a time countdown or a megabyte countup) you will appreciate even "meaningless" time remaining indicators. I get left with a feeling of being in limbo when there is no indicator.
There are two things here.
- Progress bars and
- time estimates
When you download files like OnyX there is a always a
download progress bar. You just have to know where to look for it. It can be found in two different places
- In the Dock, below the download folder icon
- in the download folder on the icon of the file that is being downloaded.
Download time estimates reported by for example the OS X installer/updater are exactly that
estimates and are subject to an almost ridiculous number of factors many of which cannot be accurately estimated and others which can change over the course of a large download.
Installation time estimates have long been notoriously inaccurate. We might be best served by an install progress bar without any time estimates, but even those are subject to inexplicable and confusing pausing and uneven progression.
