— Macromedia's Flash Shockwave (which
allows you to view the animation on our home page) is available free of charge
from Macromedia's Shockwave website.
— Adobe Reader (which allows you to read
*.pdf files) is available free of charge from Adobe's website.
—
Microsoft's PowerPoint viewer (which
allows you to read *.ppt files) is available free of charge from their website
if you do not have PowerPoint. This file is for users running Windows
95/98/NT.
If you have been browsing around the Internet, you may already have encountered a situation in which your browser could not handle some type of file it encountered. Even with a state-of-the-art browser, there are some things the browser cannot do without a little enhancement. When your browser is confronted with a file that it cannot handle, you can often install a separate program or helper application the browser can use to access the file. Or, you might be able to enhance the browser itself by adding a "plug-in." A plug-in is simply a small add-on piece of software that enables your browser to access certain types of files.
To encourage the use of their product, software developers often distribute the plug-in or software needed to access the files created by their proprietary software free of charge. For example, Adobe gives away the viewer to read *.pdf files for free to one and all. But if you want to be able to create *.pdf files, you need to purchase their software.
Which browser enhancements or plug-ins you need depends on how you use your computer. However, there are a few plug-ins that are extremely useful just about across the board such as the Adobe Reader and more recently Shockwave You should keep in mind that every plug-in you install has to be loaded each time you run the browser. Therefore, you probably do not want to install superfluous plug-ins just to have ready access to them because it will slow your browser's performance. Beyond such common plug-ins as Adobe Reader, it is usually best to add plug-ins only as a you encounter a data wall and cannot handle a file you need to access.