Download managers are already playing a key role in our lives, so it's no surprise that Microsoft joined the club of companies working on this kind of software solutions with its very own app.

Called simply “Microsoft Download Manager”, the tool designed by the Redmond-based software giant is supposed to be a simple way to download files from the Internet with pause/resume capabilities and something extra.

Unfortunately however, Microsoft Download Manager is far from what we're seeing in today's download managers, as it provides just a few options, but it lacks most popular goodies.

The interface is very simple and easy to use, in the pure Microsoft way, so you should have absolutely no problem in using it.

On the other hand, the number of features it includes is quite disappointing. It does support pausing and resuming downloads, proxy  servers, automatic retries and multiple connections at the same time, but it lacks so much more.

For example, there's no browser integration, which means that in order to start a new download you have to manually do it by writing down the download link. There's no clipboard monitoring tool, no floating window, it doesn't even show the download speed.

Plus, sometimes the application doesn't start the download, although everything worked okay in other download manager with the exact same link. Not to mention that it often happened to get download errors all of a sudden...

The good thing about Microsoft Download Manager is its simplicity and it's pretty clear that users like this kind of applications because they are extremely easy to use. On the other hand, the lack of features and the way it downloads files are far from what we've expected from a Microsoft application.

So, as a conclusion, it's hard to consider Microsoft Download Manager a powerful rival for today's download managers. But, as always, the Microsoft badge might very well be appealing for a number of users, so give it a try to find it on your own.