14 DAY TRIAL // The way that the YouTube dev team has structured the videos on the site's pages is annoying, there's no doubt about it. With the continuous changes going on and all the categories being removed and added, re-branded and downgraded, it's pretty much a mess out there, but it is all presented in a seemingly organized frame and, with the white background, the feeling of neatness is maintained.
UK-startup iDesktop.tv is just easier for the eyes and is nothing more than an attempt to bring back the YouTubeDesktop in a new format. TechCrunch UK describes it as "a relaunch of YouTubeDesktop - is basically an Ajax interface onto YouTube videos with a few more features added, chiefly the ability to download videos to your desktop. I know there are apps for this kind of thing, but few achieve this in the consumer-friendly fashion of iDesktop.tv. When you download a video, you can choose from a variety of formats to convert it to - AVI, MP4, 3GP, 3GP2, MOV, WMV, FLV, EXE or ZIP. That means you can then transfer the video easily to a PC or a mobile phone, iPhone or iPod without using any other converter program. Windows can be dragged around and resized and you can create playlists or share video links with friends. It's also possible to dim the background while watching videos."
By the looks of it, it's going to be a real hit or, at any rate, a must-have for everybody who's fed up with the way the YouTube player looks or the changes currently occurring. It's also a good reason why Google should rush its video sharing service into adding the advertisements in the videos themselves, or else there'll be no more ads for those viewing them via iDesktop.tv. Erm... you did not just read that, in case you're the "no ads" type of person, because that would be me advertising the new release.