Plug-In's
At some point in your Internet travels, you'll encounter the need for a plug-in. This will usually happen when you've run across something that looks like it might be "neat" or otherwise "cool" to click-on. You click and then a little window pop's up that says something about an unknown file type:
Your browser is basically telling you that it does not recognize this type of file. With Netscape, you're options at this point are to click one of the buttons that say "More Info", "Pick App", "Save File", or "Cancel". If you don't already have the plug-in, either click on "More Info" which takes you to Netscape's site of recognized plug-ins or go back to the webpage that you came from and look for "plug-in download" information and hopefully a link to get you there.
Basically, a plug-in is a program that serves as an accessory to your browser. It expands the ability of your browser to do different kinds of things such as:
- 3D and Animation
- Business and Utilities
- Presentations
- Audio & Video
- Special Image Viewing
After you download the plug-in, follow the instructions provided by the plug-in's website to install it. Don't forget to note where you saved the plug-in. One big problem is that people will download something, and forget where they put it.
Now that you've downloaded the plug-in and installed it, you can finally click on that "neat" or otherwise "cool" link that started this whole process.
If you didn't want to do all that, you would have clicked "cancel".
Netscape warns that you should only download plug-ins from a reputable source because these are actually miniprograms that will run on your system.
