|
A plug-in is a small software
program that gives your browser abilities it didn't have
before. You don't start or launch a plug-in like a normal
program (by choosing it from your Windows Start menu or
double-clicking it from the Mac OS Finder). Instead, when
you install it, the plug-in file is placed in a designated
folder, and when your browser encounters a page that
requires a certain plug-in, it checks that folder.
So with the right plug-in
installed, you can watch movies, listen to radio stations,
chat with your friends online, or view specially formatted
documents—right in your browser window.
Some of the more popular
multimedia plug-ins include
QuickTime ,
Flash and Shockwave ,
Adobe Acrobat Reader , and
RealPlayer . (Most of these plug-ins also include a
stand-alone software program that can play media files
without the aid of the browser.) All of these plug-ins are
free, and some may have been installed already for you.
Multimedia files take longer to
download than the images you normally see on a Web page,
and can increase how long pages take to display. Most of
the time you'll have to click a link to view multimedia,
but occasionally a Web page will try to play a multimedia
file automatically when you visit the page. If you don't
have time for fluff, you can turn off multimedia features
and only view a Web page's text.
|
