Part of me hates the fact that this works so well. But then again I think "in your face" is actually OK in this case, because you're making it easier for people to find what they're actually looking for.
This is a whole lot more annoying when websites do it with stuff that you're not interested in, like ads.
I think it's not just about "in your face", but just easy to find. A lot of site make the download link real small and sometimes it drowns with the ads or rest of the elements in the page.
I prefer sites that look natural than loud. A big download button doesn't mean loud necessarily.
I believe a large-ish download icon is good user interface. I know if I go to a web page discussing a program and desire to download it, if I don't see a button (or the word "Download" in large, bold text), I immediately switch into find-the-download-page mode. Since Firefox this has meant typing "/download" into the window, which has mitigated a lot of the need for a button, I guess. :)
This is a whole lot more annoying when websites do it with stuff that you're not interested in, like ads.