My personal opinion is that the ideal first client has three features: (1) Starts up and is usable within a couple minutes (even 10 min the first time would be okay, to sync block headers) (2) Supports Windows, Linux and OSX (3) Uses deterministic wallets that can produce a permanent backup (preferably paper) Encryption is a major upside, too, but people new enough to Bitcoin that they need such a simple client, can survive without encryption (thye're not going to be holding a ton of coins) -- as long as they are made aware that they do not currently have encryption, and the associated risks (and other options). I think it's extremely important that users have a clear way to backup their coins to offline media or paper, in such a way that they don't ever need to worry about it again. Not only does it give users protection against hard-drive loss, it means that they may find it again in the far future when they haven't used Bitcoin in 2 years, and it reminds them that they still have coins (and they don't have to type in 1000 private keys to get their coins) For that reason, I think Multibit is an excellent choice. I haven't spent much time with it, but I do understand it to satisfy (1) and (2) clearly, and (3) may be happening in the near future (along with encryption). But I do wonder if it has enough staffing behind it to be the center of attention (no offense to jim618, but if this becomes the "de-facto" client for new users, we should make sure there's a lot of people available to support it -- what if a major security bug is found? how long would it take the current team to identify, fix and test that bug?) -Alan On Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 12:46 PM, Mike Hearn wrote: > At the moment if you visit bitcoin.org then you're recommended to > download the full client. I think we all agree that at some point we > need to start presenting users with something more like this: > > > To get started, download wallet apps A or B. > > If you'd like to contribute your computing resources to the Bitcoin > network and have a fast computer with an unfiltered internet > connection, download: > > - for desktop machines, Bitcoin-Qt > - for servers, bitcoind > > > > Obviously not that exact wording. > > I personally feel it's a bit early for this, but it's true that users > are being turned away by the fact that they're pointed to Bitcoin-Qt > by default, so having some kind of roadmap or plan for changing that > would be good. > > I think MultiBit is maturing into a client that I'd feel comfortable > recommending to end users who take the fast-start path, though it > still has a few serious lacks (encrypted wallets aren't released yet, > bloom filters will help performance a lot, needs to catch up with some > newer features). But there doesn't have to be a one true client. > > The alternative, I guess, is to make Bitcoin-Qt have an SPV mode. I'm > not convinced this is the best use of time, but if somebody steps up > to do it, that could also work. MultiBit has some unique features that > are quite useful like integrating charting and exchange rate feeds. > > What does everyone think on this? > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > LogMeIn Rescue: Anywhere, Anytime Remote support for IT. Free Trial > Remotely access PCs and mobile devices and provide instant support > Improve your efficiency, and focus on delivering more value-add services > Discover what IT Professionals Know. Rescue delivers > http://p.sf.net/sfu/logmein_12329d2d > _______________________________________________ > Bitcoin-development mailing list > Bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bitcoin-development >