BTW..why does it constanlty prompt me to update the addon manager...why this high freqency of changes to addon manager?
You are probably confusing a MINOR update, that will update only some support files related to sceneries and GSX, with a MAJOR update, that will ask to update the Addon Manager. The Addon Manager updates are way less frequent and it has been weeks since we had one. Instead, we had several minor updates these days, but they don't require downloading the Addon Manager and don't even require restarting FSX.
Of course, if you don't apply a major update when prompted, it will keep prompting you, until you either do the update OR you chose the DISMISS option, which will not prompt you for that update, until the next one is released.
and is there a place one can download the latest download manager if one wants to?
IF an Addon Manager update is required, the Live update will automatically open to the Addon Manager download page. And, there are links on each and every Info page of every product, there's a link on the Home page of the Website, and there's a link on the FAQ page too. Really impossible to miss it...