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
• Silverlight
• VLC Media Player

Flash

For animation, games, and other non-static content, the Flash format delivers the dynamic visuals from many websites. 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 install 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 website.

Windows Media Player

The Windows Media Player plugin is useful for displaying Windows Media content, which includes a variety of audio and visual formats. The Windows Media Player program 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

Adobe Reader is used to display of Portable Document Format (PDF) files. PDF 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 program 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 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 website. 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 websites embed small Java applications such as games or utilities into web pages. To display Java content, you must install 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.

Silverlight

The Silverlight format is used for multimedia content like games, presentations, and videos.

• For more information, see Silverlight.

VLC Media Player

The VLC Media Player is an open source multimedia player that plays most audio and video formats. It includes a plugin for playing media within your Firefox browser.

The VLC Media Player and its plugin are available from the VideoLAN website.