[quote name='BWS1982']Is Origin still an intrusive C: Drive-molesting menace? Or what's the latest take on it? I heard it was an unmitigated disaster and fondles every allocation on your HDD's...[/QUOTE]
You can change directory where it downloads the installers and the directory where it installs the games. That's more configuration than Steam provides.
You can install the program to another drive if you like, too. So... it's EA DM with a Steam overhaul (if you use the beta version), but it still uses the same old DRM crap that EA DM used to.
My biggest problem with Origin is mostly the inconsistency. Some people's Bulletstorm will work, some won't. Some people's Mass Effect will work, some won't. Some people's Crysis, some people's The Saboteur, some people's Mercenaries 2, etc. That, "It may work, it may not" crap is really annoying.
You'd think it wouldn't be that hard for a company to take all the keys it's put out for a certain title and just upload them to a server's database. But apparently it's really, really hard...