I truly hate Impulse. it's so unituitive and badly designed i truly hate using it. since i only own only one game on impulse (which is Demigod) i don't use it that often, but when i have to launch it i really get annoyed. updates aren't downloaded automatically and it's really a pain in the neck when i have to redownload Demigod.
there is no "normal" option of creating a backup, only "download and backup". so if you have the game downloaded and installed you have to redownload it to back it up. i am no longer angry on steam, since it's an application which is at least user-friendly. impulse is not. it doesn't even minimize into system tray.

"updates aren't downloaded automatically and it's really a pain in the neck when i have to redownload Demigod. "
You don't need to redownload the game,just to install an update.
"there is no "normal" option of creating a backup, only "download and backup"."
Archive application tab in the right click menu of Impulse.
"it doesn't even minimize into system tray. "
Have you heard about Impulse Tray?

The fact that you have to install something extra just to get something that really should be default underlines his point.

You do realize that the Impulse Tray is installed by NOT un-checking a tickbox when you are installing Impulse, right? :p

Looks yummy:
http://frogboy.impulsedriven.net/article/378128

You mean Impulse Now? Not quite the same: closing the impulse window cancels any download.

Gabe is a big, pun intended, hypocrite. Going off about how DRM devalues a game, yet his entire Steam cashcow is based under the notion of DRM-only digital games. So the only DRM that doesnt devalue games is his own DRM? He should at least shut up, and be happy, or at least say DRM pays for my cars, my big house, and my powerful underpants. Last time i checked you couldnt resell a steamed game. That's a devalued game.

I finally got a response from Steam support regarding a ticket I submitted on February 1st 2008. Don't know why they bothered digging up the ticket just to reply with a pointless reply considering the issue was solved sometime late in 2008 though.

Someone wanted to taunt you with their mad customer service skillz.

Hah. They failed then. As it was nothing but a huge waste of time this long after the issue. Time better spent on helping people with current problems.

I figure they probably have tasked an intern with cleaning up the support DB.

Well considering that the ticket was actually deleted from the system when they switched to the new one, that was one hell of a waste of time.

@ bansama
Did you post a "Thank you Steam,you are awsome " thread on the official Steam forum after getting the reply from Steam support?

Wow, that sounds and looks really great! It'd be awesome if developers embraced this solution instead of Steam, PC gaming would only benefit from such a move.