Lesson+3

Plugins are programs that are developed to expand the capabilities of your Web Browser so it can do things you would ordinarily need a separate program to do. With the proper plugins, your Web Browser can listen to the radio, watch movie clips, play interactive games, view 3D environments, and so on. Plugins for a Browser can be found on the pages of the company that makes the Browser you are using. For instance, to get a Netscape plugin to allow you to view movies, you would go to www.netscape.com, browse through the site until you found their product download area, choose the product you think will suit your needs best, and download it. There will be a list of instructions for setting up the new program somewhere on the page you downloaded it from. More recently, web sites have made accessing required plugins even easier. On newer sites, if you are viewing a page which requires a plugin, you are prompted to download it, and are usually directed straight to a place where you can download from the plugin maker's web site. The following are some very common plugins, some of which you have likely already installed on your computer.
 * What are plugins?**
 * [[image:http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/info10/module20/images/acopdflogo2.gif width="45" height="45" caption="Adobe Acrobat"]] || **Adobe Acrobat Reader** for reading formatted text documents like brochures and newsletters ||
 * [[image:http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/info10/module20/images/real.gif width="45" height="40" caption="Real Player"]] || **Real Player** for listening to sound ||
 * [[image:http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/info10/module20/images/quicktimelogo.gif width="45" height="44" caption="Quicktime "]] || **QuickTime Video** for watching video clips, animation, and more ||
 * [[image:http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/info10/module20/images/shockwave.gif width="44" height="45" caption="Shockwave and Flash"]] || **Shockwave and Flash Players** for viewing animation, multimedia, and streaming audio. ||
 * [[image:http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/info10/module20/images/quicktimelogo.gif width="45" height="44" caption="Quicktime "]] || **QuickTime Video** for watching video clips, animation, and more ||
 * [[image:http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/info10/module20/images/shockwave.gif width="44" height="45" caption="Shockwave and Flash"]] || **Shockwave and Flash Players** for viewing animation, multimedia, and streaming audio. ||
 * [[image:http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/info10/module20/images/shockwave.gif width="44" height="45" caption="Shockwave and Flash"]] || **Shockwave and Flash Players** for viewing animation, multimedia, and streaming audio. ||

1)What are some other common plugins that you might have seen? Find three additional plugins, find where you can obtain them, and determine what they will do to expand your browser's capabilities.