Detect ActiveX Controls and Plug-Ins
(See Notes)
More Notes: In order to execute ("play") a Flash object ("movie")
.swf file,
you must have the Macromedia Flash Player installed on your
computer. For Microsoft Internet Explorer, the Flash Player
is called an ActiveX Control. And for Netscape Navigator and
Apple, the Flash Player is called a Plug-In.
As you may know, Flash movies offer the highest quality and fastest
method to load and display dynamic animation content, including color
and sound, in your web pages. This capability is very popular, and
some 98% of computer users worldwide have downloaded and installed
the Flash Player on their computers.
The latest version
of the Flash Player is version 7. Some Flash movies require
version 6 or 7. And some Flash movies request an older version,
such as version 4 or 5. A newer version will always play
the Flash movies created for an older version. So, for example,
if a Flash movie requests version 4 or 5, then version 6 or 7
will work fine.
To determine which version(s) of the Flash Player are installed
on your computer, click on the choices above - especially choices
4., 5., 6., and 7. If the latest version (version 7) is installed,
then it will show that this version is present, and also that all
older versions are present as well.
When a Flash object .swf file loads, it checks to see if the requested
Flash Player version (or a later version) is installed on your computer.
If not, a message will be displayed on your screen, requesting
your permission to download and install the requested Flash Player
version from the web site at Macromedia (www.macromedia.com). Click
on OK to download and install the requested Flash Player version
automatically. The Flash Player is small (less than 600KB) and
will download quickly, even over dialup telephone line connections.
