Page 182 -

5.4 User frustration 151

"You do not have the plug-in needed to view the audiolx-pn-real-audio plug-
in-type information on this page. To get plug-in now, view plug-in directory"

Figure 5.7a Typical message in dialog box that appears when trying to run an applet on a
website that needs a plug-in the user does not have.

click on, can be a very arduous task. To add to the frustration, users may also dis-
cover that several of their well-learned procedures for carrying out tasks have been
substantially changed in the upgrade.
A pet frustration of mine over the years has been trying to run various websites
that require me to install a new plug-in. Achieving this is never straightforward. I
have spent huge amounts of time trying to install what I assume to be the correct
plug-in-only to discover that it is not yet available or incompatible with the oper-
ating system or machine I am using.
What typically happens is I'll visit a tempting new website, only to discover
that my browser is not suitably equipped to view it. When my browser fails to run
the applet, a helpful dialog box will pop up saying that a plug-in of X type is re-
quired. It also usually directs me to another website from where the plug-in can be
downloaded (see Figure 5.7a). Websites that offer such plug-ins, however, are not
organized around my specific needs but are designed more like hardware stores
(a bad conceptual model), offering hundreds (maybe even thousands) of plug-ins
covering all manner of applications and systems. Getting the right kind of plug-in
from the vast array available requires knowing a number of things about your ma-
chine and the kind of network you are using. In going through the various options

WEB PLUG-IN DIRECTORY
Here is where you find the links to all of the plug-ins available on the net. Simply
find a plug-in you're interested in, view what platforms it currently (or will 'soon')
support and click on its link. If you know of a plug-in not listed on this page
please take a moment and tell us about it with our all new reporting system!
Plug-ins by Category
The Full List This is the whole list, but I gotta warn ya its getting big
MultiMedia Multi-Media Plug-Ins, AVI, QuickTime, ShockWave ...
Graphics Graphic Plug-Ins, PNG, CMX, DWG ...
Sound Sound & MIDI Plug-Ins, MIDI, ReadAudio, Truespeech ...
Document Document Viewer Plug-Ins, Acrobat, Envoy, MS Word ...
Productivity Productivity Plug-Ins, Map Viewers, Spell Checkers.. .
VRMU3-D VRML & QD3D Plug-Ins
I
Plug-ins by platform
Macintosh Macintosh Plug-Ins
032 IBM 0512 Plug-Ins
Unix Unix Plug-Ins
Windows Windows Plug-Ins
Figure 5.7b Directory of plug-ins available on a plug-in site directed to from Netscape.