J.D. Fox Micro Resource Center

Flash Player was long required to watch cartoonish animations on web sites. Given improvements in the software's capability in recent years, it is now widely used to display video. It was originally developed by Macromedia in 1995, and is now owned by Adobe, the same company that produces Photoshop and Acrobat. It is probably the most widely used website extension technology of any type.

Flash is available for many computer platforms. Some computer manufacturers pre-install it for you, in which case you still might want to upgrade to the latest version. You also may find the latest versions of some web browsers (such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox) have it included already, or will help you download and install it easily.

Also, if you visit a website that requires Flash, the site will usually tell you if you don't have it installed. Unlike some other web-based video players, Flash is not really designed to work with separately downloaded Flash files; its whole paradigm revolves around displaying Flash content (animations and videos) in your web browser.

As for mobile devices, Apple does not allow Flash to work on the iPhone or iPad, mainly because this competes with Apple's QuickTime (see below). Apple provides other methods for accessing popular Flash-based sites (like YouTube) through a separate application on the iPhone or iPad just for those sites, or using HTML 5.

Flash is generally supported on newer versions of other mobile devices, such as those based on Windows Mobile and Android. It only works on some BlackBerry phones and tablets.

Anyway, given all that, if you simply want to download the latest version of Flash, use the link below.

Note the download page linked here shows, right up front, that the Google Toolbar will install with this, unless you uncheck the box to indicate you don't want it. You do not need the Google Toolbar for Adobe Flash to work properly. It is merely presented on the download page as part of a marketing arrangement between Google and Adobe.

Shockwave is very similar to Flash, and was also developed originally by Macromedia. Back when Flash only supported flat cartoons, Shockwave was a more sophisticated version that supported 3D imagery and animation, and was often used for games you could play in your web browser. It's hardly ever mentioned any more, but it is still available for download in case you come across a Shockwave game you would like to play.

Microsoft developed Silverlight to be the next generation of Adobe Flash. First released in 2007, it functions much like Flash; that is, it is designed to work within your web browser to display animated and interactive content on the web page. But, it can extend beyond just your web browser to take website interactivity and data management to a new level.

If you visit a web site that requires Silverlight, the site will inform you of this. Examples are Netflix and parts of msnbc.com, and other television stations that broadcast their shows on the Internet. At this time, Silverlight is mostly used for streaming video.

Silverlight is available for most combinations of computer platform and web browser, including Apple computers. Support for mobile phones is extremely limited at this time. For Linux-based operating systems, a separately developed version of Silverlight, called Moonlight, is available for download from a project apparently sponsored by Novell.

This is similar to Microsoft Silverlight, and was developed by Adobe around the same time. Back then, Adobe focused on promoting AIR applications that are web-based but run outside your web browser, which make them much more versatile. Yahoo, AOL, FedEx, and eBay all helped developed AIR-based applications that link into the information you might normally get from their websites to perform functions related to their services (such as track a package, or place a bid). However, these applications never caught on, for whatever reason. Everyone still just opens their web browser, goes to the relevant site, and gets what they need without using AIR.

If you have downloaded Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer, you probably already have Adobe AIR, because this is bundled with it. If you need to run an AIR application, however, and do not have it installed yet, of course, simply download it below.

This was introduced way back in 1991 for Apple computers, and was the first software that enabled watching full motion video from a data file on a personal computer. It became available for Windows in 1994. For a long time, QuickTime format video was very commonly found on websites, but this has been superseded in popularity by other formats.

Like other video player downloads here, you generally only need this if you have been sent a QuickTime file you can't open (.mov or .qt), or are unable to view video on a website that specifically says it requires QuickTime.

Apple products, such as the latest Mac desktops and laptops, come with QuickTime pre-installed, but you can use the link below to see if a new version is available. The iPhone and iPad also come with built-in QuickTime support.

Although RealMedia-formatted audio and video files have been around a long time and were once very popular, computers do not generally come with the software needed to view them. You must install the RealPlayer application by RealNetworks to view these files or watch streaming RealMedia audio/video on a website. RealPlayer, however, is a full-featured audio/video media management application, not just a web browser enhancement like the rest of the downloads on this page. To download and/or read more about RealPlayer and other media management programs, click here.

If you need to play Windows Media files from a website (such as a .wmv file), and it does not work on your Mac, you can try downloading Windows Media Components for QuickTime made by Telestream Flip4Mac (and available for download through Microsoft). This enables the QuickTime application on your Mac to play Windows Media files.

Download Windows Media Components for QuickTime from Microsoft (for Mac)