Plugins are small programs that can be added to browsers like Firefox to manage Internet content that Firefox is not designed to process. For example, Adobe Systems provides a plugin to manage animated content in the Flash format.

This article contains descriptions of the most popular plugins that you are likely to need. For each platform, instructions are provided for where to acquire them.

Table Of Contents

• Flash
• Windows Media Player
• Adobe Reader
• Quicktime
• RealPlayer
• Java
• Shockwave

Flash

For animation, games, and other non-static content, the Flash format delivers the dynamic visuals from many web sites. With widespread available across many platforms, the Flash video format (FLV) has gained popularity for embedding audio and video content. To access Flash content on the web, you must acquire the Flash plugin.

• For more information on Flash format, see Using the Flash plugin with Firefox.

Flash plugins are available on Windows, Mac, and Linux from the official Adobe web site.

• For more information and installation instructions, see Using the Flash plugin with Firefox.

Windows Media Player

The Windows Media Player plugin is useful for displaying Windows Media, which includes a variety of audio and visual formats. The Windows Media Player is a standard component of the Windows operating system. A plugin is available for playing content through your Firefox browser.

• For more information, see Using the Windows Media Player plugin with Firefox.

Adobe Reader

The Adobe Reader is used for playback of PDF files. The Portable Document Format file format is designed for publishing many kinds of documents. A PDF document has an identical appearance across most platforms and requires less storage space than other formats rich in graphics and features. The Adobe Reader is a free viewer that can display the PDF format and includes a browser plugin.

• For more information, see Using the Adobe Reader plugin with Firefox.

Quicktime

The Quicktime plugin is required for Quicktime media formats. The Quicktime plugin can also play common media formats like MPEG, WAV and MP3, which may not play back through the Windows Media Player plugin. For Firefox, the Quicktime plugin is highly recommended.

• For more information, see Using the Quicktime plugin with Firefox.

RealPlayer

The RealPlayer plugin is required for playback of Real Media formats.

• For more information, see Using the RealPlayer plugin with Firefox.

RealPlayer is available from the official Real web site. The browser plugin is included.

Java

Java is a programming language that enables the execution of the same program across multiple platforms without changes to the code. Many web sites embed small Java applications such as games or utilities into web pages. To display Java content, you must acquire the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), which includes a browser plugin.

• For more information, see Using the Java plugin with Firefox.

Shockwave

The Shockwave format is used for multimedia content like games, presentations, and learning applications. The Shockwave plugin enables playback of Shockwave content in your Firefox browser.

• For more information, see Using the Shockwave plugin with Firefox.