Which Browsers support plugins? Netscape pioneered the use of plugins from Navigator 2.0 onwards, Microsoft started supporting Plugins from Internet Explorer 3.
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  What is the difference between plugins and ActiveX? Like Netscape, Microsoft has added a similar technology called ActiveX. ActiveX is actually a variation of OLE (object linking and embedding) Windows functionality where you can click on an icon in a document and start a separate application, which supports it. ActiveX controls are not really plug-ins -- nor are they Java applets for that matter. They're inserted into pages like an applet, so when you hit a page that contains one, it's automatically downloaded. Once downloaded, however, it acts like a plug-in.

It stays permanently on your system so that when a Web page requires it, that specific control, the code for it gets pulled off of your local disk rather than off the Net
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  How plug-ins and ActiveX work? For the user, both ActiveX and Netscape plug-ins operate similarly. When the browser starts up, it checks for plug-in or ActiveX modules in the \NETSCAPE\PLUGINS folder or IE directory
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  Will Plugins run on my computer? Almost all Plug-ins currently run on PC's with an 80386 or better running Windows 95 or Windows NT. Some of them offer versions for Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, the Macintosh, or Unix. For more information check the Plugin specifications.
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  I have downloaded a plug-in. How do I install it? Most Plugins come in zipped format. Run the file you downloaded.. This will start a program called WinZip. You should be able to simply select the 'Unzip' button. This will decompress the install files into the directory specified. These are temporary files that can be deleted when setup is complete.

When the install files have been extracted, the setup program will run. Then just follow the prompts.
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  What Plugins are currently available and where do I find them? Currently there are almost a hundred Plugins. They can be freely downloaded from various sites on the Internet. Some run only under Windows 95 and Windows NT, however many run happily under the older versions of Windows.

Three most popular plugins:

RealAudio, a plug-in that gives you live AM-radio like sound over the Net.

(URL: http://www.realaudio.com/products/player2.0.html#download)

Macromedia's ShockWave for Director, for mind-blowing animation, sound and interactivity.
(URL: http://www-1.macromedia.com/Tools/Shockwave/Plugin/ plugin.cgi)

Netscape's Live3D, which opens the door to 3D virtual reality worlds written using the virtual reality mark-up (VRML) language, although it will give even a high-end Pentium a work-out.
(URL: http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/navigator/ live3d/download_live3d.html)

Amber A .pdf document reader plugin from Adobe. The downloading of large .pdf (Portable Document Format) files is a process of the past. Abobe's Acrobat Reader plugin, Amber, makes it possible for users to download pages of .pdf documents on at a time. The .pdf document appears embedded within the web page. Amber also gives hyperlinks within the .pdf document (which previously could only link to other .pdf pages) may link to pages on the Web.
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  Why do Plug-ins installed in previous version of Navigator not automatically transferred to Communicator? In most cases, you can just copy the *.dll from the old Plugin directory to the new one, restart Communicator, and plug-in should work.

If the plug-in had a more sophisticated installation procedure, for exapmple QuickTime, you must re-run the plug-in install
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  How do I delete plugins I don't need anymore? First check to see if the plugin has an uninstall program. In Windows 3.x, look for an uninstaller in the program group the plugin's installer created, if any. In Windows 95 and NT 4.0, look both in the Start Menu and in the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel. If the plugin has an uninstaller, you should always use it rather than the manual method

If the plugin doesn't have an uninstaller, you will Take note of the path then exit Netscape

go to the plugin directory and either delete the DLL file if you merely wish to disable it, rename it to npoldplug32.old or similar

When you restart Netscape, the plugin will no longer be active.
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