For a development kit that has only been out for about five months at the time of this writing, there sure are a lot of Navigator plug-ins out there!
The following pages list plug-ins that are available as of May 1996. This list is divided into the following categories:
With no further ado, here they are!
Plug-in: ABC QUICKSILVER
Company: Micrografx
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
URL: http://www.micrografx.com
The ABC QUICKSILVER plug-in from Micrografx lets you interact with Web page graphics. You can also create these new object graphics using tools from Micrografx.
Plug-in: CMX Viewer
Company: Corel
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
URL: http://www.corel.com
Corel offers the CMX Viewer plug-in that allows viewing of Corel vector format CMX files. Vector format graphics are smaller in size than raster graphics such as JPEG.
Plug-in: DWG/DXF
Company: SoftSource
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
URL: http://www.softsource.com
SoftSource has created a plug-in called DWB/DXF that enables you to view AutoCAD (DWG) and DXF drawings on a Web page. The graphics are in vector format and are scaleable.
Plug-in: FIGleaf Inline
Company: Carberry Technology/EBT
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
Carberry Technologies plug-in offering called FIGLeaf Inline allows the Navigator to view several graphical file formats, including CGM, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, CCITT GP4, BMP, WMF, EPSF, Sun Raster, and RGB. Graphics viewing is enhanced with scrollbars, image rotation, and multipage file support.
Plug-in: Fractal Viewer
Company: Iterated Systems
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh
The Iterated Systems Fractal Viewer plug-in allows you to view graphics compressed with Iterated's Fractal Image Format. Image controls such as zoom, stretch, flip, and rotate are also provided. Check out Chapter 2, "Netscape Navigator Plug-Ins," for more on this plug-in.
Plug-in: InterCAP InLine
Company: InterCAP Graphics Systems
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
A plug-in called InterCAP InLine is offered from InterCAP Graphics Systems. This plug-in expands on the company's MetaLink RunTime CGM viewer to bring this format to the Web. CGM is a vector file format smaller than a conventional bitmap. This plug-in also provides zooming, panning, and animation.
Plug-in: KEYview for Windows
Company: FTP Software
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1
URL: http://www.ftp.com
FTP Software claims support for almost 200 types of file formats. Formats such as MS Word, WordPerfect, Excel, EPS, and PCX are supported. Copy, paste, and convert options are also supported for each of KEYview's supported formats.
Plug-in: Lightning Strike
Company: Infinet Op
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh
Lightning Strike is a plug-in from Infinet Op that offers an image compression technology based on wavelet compression. Infinet Op claims higher compression and better image quality for its compression format.
Plug-in: Shockwave for FreeHand
Company: Macromedia
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh
URL: http://www.macromedia.com
Macromedia's Shockwave for FreeHand plug-in is an interactive viewer for FreeHand art. You can pan and zoom this vector graphic format. Support is also included for 24-bit color images.
Plug-in: SVF
Company: SoftSource
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
URL: http://www.softsource.com
The SVF plug-in from SoftSource lets you view graphics in Simple Vector Format (SVF). Pan, zoom, and image layers are supported. You can also include HTML hyperlinks in an SVF file.
Plug-in: ViewDirector
Company: TMS
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
TIFF and other image support is provided from a company called TMS with its ViewDirector plug-in. Features such as zoom, pan, and rotate are supported.
Plug-in: Wavelet Image Viewer
Company: Summus
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1
Summus supports wavelet-based image compression with its plug-in called Wavelet Image Viewer. High compression ratios with good image quality are possible with this image viewer.
Plug-in: WHIP!
Company: Autodesk
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
You can view 2-D vector data with WHIP! from Autodesk. This plug-in uses the same viewing engine as AutoCAD Release 13 to display vector file formats. Zoom, pan, and embedded URLs are supported.
Plug-in: Acrobat Amber Reader
Company: Adobe
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh
URL: http://www.adobe.com
To view Portable Document Format (PDF) files in the Navigator, you can use the Acrobat Amber Reader plug-in from Adobe. The PDF file format is compact and platform-independent.
Plug-in: Chemscape Chime
Company: MDL Information Systems
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh, PowerMac
URL: http://www.mdli.com
Using the Chemscape Chime plug-in lets scientists display 2-D and 3-D chemical structures with the Navigator.
Plug-in: Envoy
Company: Tumbleweed Software
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh, PowerMac
The Envoy document viewer plug-in from Tumbleweed Software lets you view documents created with the Tumbleweed Publishing Essentials. This document format supports fonts, graphics, and layouts. Additionally, a developer's kit is provided for viewer customization.
Plug-in: Formula One/NET
Company: Visual Components
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1
URL: http://www.visualcomp.com
The Formula One/NET plug-in from Visual Components lets you view a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. This plug-in supports live charts, embedded URLs, text and number formatting, calculations, buttons, and controls.
Plug-in: Word Viewer
Company: Inso Corporation
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1
URL: http://www.inso.com
Inso Corporation offers the Word Viewer plug-in to view Microsoft 6.0 and 7.0 documents. Copy and print are also supported. See Chapter 2 for more on this plug-in.
Plug-in: ASAP WebShow
Company: Software Publishing Corporation
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1
URL: http://www.spco.com
Another plug-in featured in Chapter 2 of this book, SPC's ASAP WebShow, lets you view presentation documents created with ASAP WordPower. This plug-in supports printing, downloading, and viewing reports and presentations.
Plug-in: Astound Web Player
Company: Gold Disk
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1
Gold Disk provides Navigator support for multimedia documents created with its Astound or Studio M software with the Astound Web Player plug-in. This document format supports animation, graphics, audio, video, and interactivity. Slide viewing on the fly is supported using full streaming capabilities of the plug-in API.
Plug-in: PowerMedia
Company: RadMedia
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1
The PowerMedia plug-in from RadMedia enables you to author and view multimedia documents geared toward business communications. Some business uses of this plug-in are presentations, training, kiosks, and demos.
Plug-in: mBED
Company: mBED Software
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh, PowerMac
URL: http://www.mbed.com
The mBED file format for animated Web page graphics is supported with the mBED plug-in from mBED Software. These graphics are both animated and interactive.
Plug-in: Shockwave for Authorware
Company: Macromedia
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh
URL: http://www.macromedia.com
Another plug-in from Macromedia, Shockwave for Authorware, provides Navigator support for Authorware courses and pieces. Animation, buttons, URLs and streaming images, movies, and sound are supported.
Plug-in: Shockwave for Director
Company: Macromedia
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh
URL: http://www.macromedia.com
One of the most popular multimedia presentation applications is Director from Macromedia. You can use the company's Shockwave for Directory plug-in to view Director files through the Navigator. Support for buttons, animation, URLs, movies, and sound is provided with this plug-in.
Plug-in: Sizzler
Company: Totally Hip
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh, PowerMac
URL: http://www.totallyhip.com
Streaming animation is provided by the Sizzler plug-in from Totally Hip. The company also has a tutorial for converting QuickTime movies and PIC files to Sizzler files. See Chapter 2 for more on this plug-in.
Plug-in: Live3D
Company: Netscape
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1
Starting with Navigator 3.0, the Live3D plug-in is included with Netscape's Navigator for viewing virtual worlds written in the VRML language. This plug-in supports 3-D text, background images, texture animation, morphing, viewpoints, collision detection, gravity, and RealAudio streaming sound. This plug-in is featured in Chapter 2.
Plug-in: Topper
Company: Kinetix
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
URL: http://www.ktx.com
Kinetix has extended VRML with its new Virtual Reality Behavior Language (VRBL). This new specification enables users to add animation to VRML. The 3-D Studio and 3-D Studio MAX tools from the company let you create 3-D scenes for viewing with the Topper plug-in.
Plug-in: Viscape
Company: Superscape
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
URL: http://www.superscape.com
The Viscape plug-in from Superscape is an interactive 3-D viewer plug-in. Object grabbing, walk-throughs, and sound are supported.
Plug-in: VR Scout VRML
Company: Chaco Communications
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
URL: http://www.chaco.com
Another VRML viewer called VR Scout VRML from Chaco Communications supports the full 1.0 VRML standard for flying through virtual worlds.
Plug-in: VRealm
Company: Integrated Data Systems
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
Integrated Data Systems offers the VRealm Navigator plug-in that supports VRML virtual worlds. Additional features such as object behaviors, gravity, collision detection, autopilot, and multimedia are added with this plug-in.
Plug-in: Whurlplug
Company: Apple
Platforms: Macintosh
URL: http://product.info.apple.com/qd3d/3Dsample.HTML
The Macintosh-based plug-in, Whurlplug from Apple, lets you interact with 3-D models. This plug-in uses Apple's QuickDraw 3-D API for 3-D rendering, picking, and navigation.
Plug-in: WIRL Virtual Reality Browser
Company: VREAM
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
URL: http://www.vream.com
VREAM's WIRL Virtual Reality Browser plug-in supports the VRML standard. It also adds support for object behaviors, multimedia capabilities, and world authoring.
Plug-in: Crescendo
Company: Live Update
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh
URL: http://www.liveupdate.com
The MIDI file format is supported by Live Update's Crescendo plug-in. This plug-in gives a Web page background MIDI with CD player controls.
Plug-in: Echospeech
Company: Echo Speech Corporation
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1
URL: http://www.echospeech.com
The Echospeech plug-in from Echo Speech Corporation provides for high-quality compressed speech.
Plug-in: MacZilla
Company: Knowledge Engineering
Platforms: Macintosh
URL: http://maczilla.com
Knowledge Engineering is offering the MacZilla plug-in for supporting a multitude of file formats such as Quicktime, MIDI, WAV, AU, AIFF, MPEG, and AVI.
Plug-in: RapidTransit
Company: FastMan
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh
URL: http://monsterbit.com/rapidtransit
FastMan claims compression of up to 40 to 1 with its RapidTransit plug-in. Additionally, full CD-quality sound can be compressed to 10 to 1 or better.
Plug-in: RealAudio
Company: Progressive Networks
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh
The RealAudio plug-in from Progressive Networks is one of the more popular audio decompression plug-ins. See Chapter 5 for more information on this plug-in.
Plug-in: Talker
Company: MVP Solutions
Platforms: Macintosh
URL: http://www.mvpsolutions.com
Talker, a Macintosh-only plug-in from MVP Solutions, uses text to speech technology to actually read you a Web page.
Plug-in: ToolVox
Company: Voxware
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh
The ToolVox plug-in from Voxware decompresses streaming audio at up to 53 to 1 compression ratios. This is one of the best compression ratios available and works well for speech.
Plug-in: ACTION
Company: Open2u
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
MPEG movies are supported with the ACTION plug-in from Open2U.
Plug-in: CoolFusion
Company: Iterated Systems
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
Iterated Systems' CoolFusion plug-in supports streaming video. This plug-in uses the AVI file format.
Plug-in: MovieStar
Company: Intelligence At Large
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Macintosh
URL: http://www.beingthere.com
Quicktime movies both in Windows and Macintosh are supported with the MovieStar plug-in from Intelligence At Large. The plug-in supports autoplay and looping among other HTML configurations.
Plug-in: PreVU
Company: InterVU
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
MPEG movies are supported with the PreVU plug-in from InterVU. This plug-in supports both streaming and full-speed cached video viewing.
Plug-in: VDOLive
Company: VDOnet
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1
VDOnet's VDOlive plug-in is currently one of the most popular video plug-ins for the Web. VDOnet claims real-time frame rates of 10 to 15 frames per second with a 28.8kbps modem for the VDOLive plug-in.
Plug-in: ViewMovie QuickTime
Company: Ivan Cávero Belaúnde
Platforms: Macintosh
URL: http://www.well.com/user/ivanski
Macintosh QuickTime movies are supported with the ViewMovie QuickTime plug-in from Ivan Cávero Belaúnde.
Plug-in: ActiveX
Company: NCompass
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh
URL: http://www.ncompasslabs.com
You can use ActiveX controls (formerly OLE) in your Web page with the ActiveX plug-in from NCompass. Most standard programming languages can generate ActiveX controls as applets. Support for Active Document viewing is also provided by this plug-in.
Plug-in: Carbon Copy/Net
Company: Microcom
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1, Macintosh
Remotely access your PC or Macintosh with the Carbon Copy/Net plug-in from Microcom. This plug-in supports remote file access, document viewing/editing, and running applications.
Plug-in: EarthTime
Company: Starfish Software
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
URL: http://www.starfishsoftware.com
A plug-in called EarthTime from Starfish Software displays an animated map so that you can see the local time in eight geographic locations. This plug-in is featured in Chapter 2.
Plug-in: ISYS HindSite
Company: ISYS/Odyssey Development
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1
To track every Web page you have ever visited, use the ISYS HindSite plug-in from ISYS/Odyssey Development. You can perform text searches for saved Web pages. Time-frame for saving URLs can be set.
Plug-in: Look@Me
Company: Farallon
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
Farallon offers the Look@Me plug-in, which enables you to view another Look@Me user's screen. This plug-in is based on Timbukto Pro and supports complete interaction with another user's computer. A stand-alone version of Look@Me is also available.
Plug-in: OpenScape
Company: Business@Web
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
The OpenScape plug-in from Business@Web supports OLE/OCX. You can use Visual Basic scripting in conjunction with this plug-in for your Web pages.
Plug-in: PointCast Network
Company: PointCast
Platforms: Windows 95/NT, Windows 3.1
The PointCast Network plug-in from PointCast lets you view the current news, weather, stock quotes, sports, and more within the Navigator. PointCast also has a popular stand-alone version of this software.
Plug-in: QuickServer
Company: Wayfarer Communications
Platforms: Windows 95/NT
Wayfarer Communications offers the QuickServer plug-in that provides for high-performance client-server applications developed with Visual Basic, PowerBuilder, C++, and Java.