Maximize Your CBS.com Experience

We at CBS have worked for many months to be able to offer you a rich mix of news and information in your a wide variety of formats – text, sound, video, and multimedia. To see everything as it was meant to be seen, it's a good idea to have the latest technology at your disposal.

To see and hear video and audio, we recommend Real Network's RealPlayer 5.0, a multimedia plug-in which allows your browser to play back media through an efficient process called streaming. Say goodbye to big multi-megabyte video and audio files. Streaming allows you to download while you're viewing - so there's less wait.

To view multimedia animations, you will need one of two plug-ins: Macromedia's Shockwave Flash, or the full version of Shockwave. Shockwave Flash is a brisk download, which allows you to view animations. Shockwave proper allows more complex multimedia applications to play on your computer. While it may take a bit longer to download, the full version of Shockwave covers animations written in Shockwave Flash, and full-blown Shockwave multimedia.

Now take a minute to see what version of what browser you are using. Simply click on the Help button for your browser, and read the About section. That should tell you the version number of your browser software. If you're not using the 4.0 versions of your browser software, consider upgrading them by selecting your favorite from the links below.

Written by Sean Wolfe with graphic design by Dana Byerly