Common Plug-ins

Real Player - streaming audio and video

"Streaming" means that you can hear the audio or view the video (e.g. a newscast or radio station) as it is downloading over the Internet. Before, you would have to wait until the entire file was downloaded to your computer (which can take a long time because sound files are quite large).

Download it: Real Player Download

Try it out: NetRadio Network Home Page - Whether you like classical, country, rock -n- roll, or a little of everything, you'll find a station here for you. Film.com's Screening Room - Watch movie trailers from current and upcoming movies.

Shockwave - interactive multimedia

Shockwave lets you view CD-ROM-like multimedia applications on the Internet. You can play games, work with simulations, view animations, and more.

Download it: http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/

Try it out: Macromedia Shockrave - A collection of cartoons, games, animations, and videos created for Macromedia's shockwave plug-in.

Adobe Acrobat Reader - "camera-ready" documents

Acrobat Reader lets you view documents created in Portable Document Format (PDF). This format retains the document's formatting regardless of computer platform or monitor resolution. PDF documents can be viewed and printed on any computer platform.

Download it: Adobe Acrobat Free Reader

Try it out: About PDF - examples from education, government, business, and more.

Quicktime - Video, 3D, and Virtual Reality

With the Quicktime plug-in you can view video clips (such as movie trailers) and explore three-dimensional environments. Unlike streaming video, Quicktime requires that you download the entire file before you can play it.

Download it: Downloading from QuickTime

Try it out: QuickTime Plug-in Sample Web Site