Downloading is the problem. Twenty years ago, you would go on the internet and find an installer and just trust it.

Now days, you have to figure out which of the 10 download buttons is the real one. And then you have check hashes if you want to validate that you actually downloaded the installer that the publisher released.

I think that browser based software is a huge step backward in terms of richness of user experience. I can't believe that, in the year 2019, GSuite has usurped Outlook and the traditional native office applications in the corporate environment that i work in. But here we are.

But, there's no denying that any friction for the user getting the software will drastically reduce their likelihood of using it at all.