Internet Explorer and Embedded Multimedia

[Leo Robert Klein]

"I ... have yet to get a sense as to whether IE requires plug-ins for
multimedia (for providing audio (streaming or otherwise); video (streaming
or otherwise), VRML, etc.) as is required in Netscape Communicator [I'd
also be interested to know if Netscape Communicator 5.0 has a similar
seamless functionality that might be available in IE 4 / 5]."

IE 5.0 most definitely requires plug-ins to support streaming media.  The
"seamlessness" of the integration is due to the fact that the standard
browser download already comes equiped with a few of the more essential
ones (e.g. Flash/Shockwave).  Also, more and more, there is an auto-update
feature on many of the plug-ins which if selected by the user, checks to
see if a newer version is available (e.g. Shockwave 7, RealVideo G2).  When
I downloaded IE 5.0, the only thing I had to add was Quicktime 3.0.

Also, in many cases, there is an option to "work" the media even without a
plug-in using a java applet instead.  I've seen Quicktime panoramas work
this way.

Leo Robert Klein



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Leo Robert Klein                     17 Lexington Ave, Box H0520
Web Coordinator &                    New York, NY. 10010
Digital Resources Developer          tel: (212) 802-2373
Newman Library/Baruch College        fax: (212) 802-2360
http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu        email: Leo_Klein at baruch.cuny.edu
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