TIPS & TRICKS: Direct Download Locations of Full Versions of Software

I often come across situations where I need to download a full installer of some piece of software without having to jump through hoops. Skype is a prime example. Often times, I want to download the latest installer without having to sign into any particular Skype account, except that Skype wants me to sign-in to my Skype account before they allow me to download. Usually, I'm trying to reinstall the software without having to provide any credentials, or I'm trying to update an OS image.

Fortunately, I found the link to download Skype for Windows version:

http://www.skype.com/en/download-skype/skype-for-windows/

Here's Skype for Mac:

http://www.skype.com/en/download-skype/skype-for-mac/

Note: It seems that the links above will base the download on what platform you are downloading from. For example, if you are downloading from a Windows machine, both the Windows link & the Mac link above will download an .exe file.


Another piece of software I frequently need is Adobe Flash. In this case, I generally need a full version rather than the stub you get when you go through the visible links on the main Adobe site. Here's the Adobe Flash download link:

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html


Will add more as I find them.

2014_02_18 Update: Here's the Google Chrome Full Offline Installer that will install Chrome for all users on Windows:

http://www.google.com/chrome/eula.html?system=true&standalone=1

Didn't see one for Mac.

2014_10_04 Update: Here's the free Mac Sophos Anti-Virus installer:

http://downloads.sophos.com/home-edition/savosx_90_he.zip

TIPS & TRICKS: Adobe Flash Full Offline Download Location

When you go to Adobe's main site and search for the latest Flash installer, you're given a stub in the download, which goes out to grab the rest of the installer when it's launched. Sometimes this doesn't work, especially when the user account currently used does not have administrative rights.

Here's the site to download the full offline version of the installers for IE and all other browsers:

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html

TIPS & TRICKS: Know about cookies? What about super cookies?

Nice little write-up about additional information stored on the machine about you. I did notice that running in Private Browsing or Incognito seems to prevent any data from getting stored in cookies or super cookies. The software that uses these super cookies? Adobe Flash Player.

http://www.gpanswers.com/blog/138-lockdown/700-supercookies-the-ugly-snack-you-can-kill-using-group-policy.html