File Formats on the web
| File type | Discussion | How to view or edit |
| .au | Common sound file format. | Windows Media Player |
| .aiff | Another common sound file format. | Windows Media Player |
| .asp | Active Server Pages | Internet Explorer |
| .avi | Audio-video file format. | Conversion Plus |
| .bin | Macbinary II Encoded File. | Conversion Plus |
| .cda | Compact disk audio. | Windows Media Player |
| .doc | Microsoft Word File. | Conversion Plus |
| .exe | Windows executable image. Use caution when downloading from untrusted source due to threat of viruses. | Just run them on windows. |
| .gif | Graphical Interchange Format. Most common format for images on internet. | Paint Shop Pro |
| .gz | Gnu version of zip. Common on Unix systems. | DropStuff |
| .html .htm |
Hypertext Markup Language. Web pages. | |
| .hqx | Conversion Plus | |
|
.jpg .jpeg |
24 bit graphic format. Makes images look fuzzy due to compression algorithm, but very common. | Paint Shop Pro |
|
.mid .midi |
Musical instruments file. | Windows Media Player |
| .mim | MIME (the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) encoded file. A standard used to encode attachments for use with email. | Conversion Plus |
|
.mpg .mpeg |
Standard movie format. | Windows Media Player |
|
.mov .qt |
QuickTime Movie, Apple's movie format. | Windows Media Player |
| Portable document format used to publish many documents on the web. | Acrobat Reader | |
| .png | Graphics format similar to gif. | Conversion Plus |
| .ppt | Power Point Presentation | Microsoft Powerpoint |
| .ps | Postscript file, used for printing documents. | |
| .ra .ram |
Real Audio | Real Player |
| .rm | Real Movies | Real Player |
| .rar | ||
| .sea | Stuffit self-extracting archive. | DropStuff |
| .shtml | HTML with server side includes | |
| .sit | Stuffit archive. Compressed file. | DropStuff |
| .tar | Compressed files common to Unix. | Conversion Plus |
| .tiff | High quality image format. | Paint Shop Pro |
| .txt | Plan text file. | |
| .uu .uue |
Originally from Unix. Used by many mail programs to send binary files. | |
| .wav | Windows sound file. | Windows Media Player |
| .z | Unix compressed file. | Conversion Plus |
| .zip | A common Windows compressed file format. | Conversion Plus |
Additional Information
- Compression programs Large files on the internet are frequently compressed. In order to access these files you will need to find one of the many compression tools available.
- File Formats on the web Here is a table with a list of many of the common file formats and how you can handle them on your pc. Formats include 'au, aiff, bin, cda, doc, exe, gif, gz, hqx, jpg, jpeg, mid, midi, mim, mpg, mpeg, qt, mov, movie, pdf, ps, rar, sit, sea, tar, tiff, text, txt, uu, uue, wav, z and zip'.
- Graphics Formats Use your intelligence to choose the correct graphics format for your web pages. You can use GIF, JPEG or the up-and-coming PNG formats.