A note to Internet Explorer users: By default, IE will try to open PowerPoint files in Slide Show mode inside your browser. After the slides come up you can select Edit>>Edit Slides, then use the View menu to change to another view (e.g. -- to see the notes pages) or select File>>Save As to save the file to your computer.

To download a file directly to your hard drive:
"Right-click" on the desired link, select "Save Target As ..." from the pop-up menu, and choose a storage location for the file. When the download is complete you can open and edit your local copy (if you remember where you stored it). This method should work even if you are at a location that has problems with IE's default behavior of trying to open the file in-place.