I have found the this current build to be faster booting and faster downloading than previous versions. I have not had a single file that refuses to download with this build as was the case in rare circumstances with previous ones.
I can't speak to the download rate for normal users as I have been a premium member for many years now, but I do recall when I was a normal member my download rate never exceeded 200kb/s so I would consider anything above that gravy. I don't think that having a premium upgrade button in the manager is too heavy handed, as long as it is not too obtrusive all you have to do is ignore it.
As far as future functionality goes I would like to see a feature added to sort mods manually. I think it would be nice to be able to put mods into categories, like overhaul or texture replacer, and view them form a drop down menu from those categories. An option to manually select a mod's category (or create a category) might be the way to go as it would give the user to ability to sort their files in a way that makes sense to them. This would also reduce the clutter of viewing dozens of mods in alphabetical order in the manager.
