[DCKing]

I recommend everyone on HN using Windows to use Chocolatey and Chocolatey GUI to install their software. Chocolatey is a package manager / "app store" for FOSS and other free-to-install software on Windows.

Downloading random installers was always flawed, but it's not getting any better. Chocolatey is the best you can get as a Homebrew/Homebrew Cask equivalent on Windows, and even if it takes some getting used to is so much better than navigating the web for installers.

[swinglock]

These days I prefer https://scoop.sh/.

Chocolatey is fine but it would sometimes cause problems which I frankly don't remember. With scoop I've had no issues.

[DCKing]

Yeah, whichever package manager you use is a huge improvement over working your way through dodgy ad-ridden websites and installers.

I'm guessing the HN crowd can use either. A big plus for Chocolatey is that it has an official GUI (Scoop seems to have GUIs as well, but they are unofficial), which improves discoverability for everyone and makes it easier to extend the recommendation to users with lower technical skills. Chocolatey and its GUI are a bit clunky compared to my Unix-based package manager tuned taste (and Windows is missing a good sudo equivalent), but it's such a big improvement over the Windows tradition of chasing installers on the internet.