Running the latest client 0.7.0 on OSX 10.7.4, opened the client roughly 1000 blocks behind the chain, and started syncing. However once the client had caught up to the chain, the Estimated total blocks was still less than the current total blocks.
I realise that when you open the client the estimated total blocks is just an estimate, however it should never be displayed as less than the current number of downloaded blocks, otherwise it might cause some concern for users.
It's always just a wild estimate.
I agree that it shouldn't show the estimate of the total anymore if it already has more blocks than that. That makes no sense, as the estimate of the total number of blocks should include how many blocks you have yourself.
Hmm this is correct after all. The value shown is "Estimated total blocks of peers". I agree this was abbreviated somewhat awkwardly, but this is only the debug window after all. Normal users shouldn't even be looking there.