Questions about Flash Player plugins. Java & JRE

[videobruce]

Regarding "Flash" Player software and/or plugins;
1. How many different "Flash" Player plugins are there? Just how many are really needed? It seems there is always a site that needs another 'plugin'.

Regarding Java and JRE;
1. Is there something other than that bloated JRE download that turns into a 140+ MB install that will work or could be subsistuted?
2. What won't work if it isn't installed?

I use Opera V9.27 and run XP Pro w/sp2 (if that matters).

[mjc]

There is only one Flash plugin...you should be using the latest version. Part of the problem is that unless you are using IE not every site is going to recognize that you actually have the plugin installed. Firefox has this problem sometimes, too...but not all that often (it seems to have it a bit more in Linux than in XP).

The other, probably more common, problem is having scripting disabled. Without scripting most sites won't recognize the plugin. They use a simple JScript to ask the browser if it has the plugin.

As for Java...the size of the file you are describing sounds more like the full JDK and not the the runtime package. (I just looked at the JRE...15 MB or so---JDK 78 MB).

[videobruce]

I have always downloaded the full package (15mb or so, not the developers package), but after the install, Add/remove programs reports the size to be around 140mb. How 15mb grows into 140 is beyond me. Even Idiot Exploiter isn't that bloated. ;)

[Sylvander]

This page provides free downloads of all current Adobe Web players. (http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/alternates/)

I had a problem with attempting to use "Adobe Shockwave Player 11" in Firefox. [Only for use with IE?]
I notice this page only mentions Firefox using Flash Player within Linux and Solaris.
What's that about? :confused:

[mjc]

I bet part of what you are seeing is the cache...and possibly older versions of the JRE.