By Suzann Dodd, ContributorPEOPLE HAVE become so wary that they are afraid to get the 'plug-ins' which are necessary to view certain sites.
Plug-ins are little applications/programmes which permit one to access sites which have audio/video links.
Common plug-ins are RealPlayer, Quick Time and Macromedia's Flash player. These three are really as crucial as the Java application.
Microsoft hates Java so much that it becomes a struggle to view anything that requires it. The Encyclopaedia Britannica knows this so packs a Java player with it's stuff.
The Windows Media Player is a virtual waste of space. RealPlayer is so much better and has wide acceptance. If you open Windows Media Player and have Real on your computer, the war starts, and not only might you have to close the WindowsPlayer, but disconnect, log off, open Real, then go back to your site. Windows is a very hostile environment.
The purpose of RealPlayer is that you can watch television on your computer. No, I'm not talking about CVM, I'm talking about BBC channel 4.
Many short movies are in Quick Time, and Flash enables animation. You need this stuff.
If you're on a site which tells you to download this stuff to see what you want and you trust the site, then do it. If not, go to the home page of these applications and download.
Sure it's no skin off anyone's nose to include this stuff when you get your fully bloated computer. And as this stuff is super necessary as well as offers free apps, the only problem is bad mind.
There's no sense in trying to view stick death if you don't have Flash, you won't see anything. And being able to see movie trailers is a nice touch so you do need RealPlayer.
These things are called 'plug-ins' as they are linked to I.E. so that while you're on the Internet and come to one of these sites I.E. immediately activates them.
There are versions for Linux as well, though the linking isn't automatic and you might need someone from JALUG to talk you through saving, installing, and activating. Still, it is not brain surgery.
