What's wrong with today's multimedia on the Web? It's either boring or it takes too long to download. To break the logjam that's stopping the Web from delivering the kind of cool graphics and animation that people have come to expect from CD-ROM products and television, Internet Explorer 4.0 includes multimedia effects with Dynamic HTML, which Web authors and developers can use to create complex, animated graphics that download quickly.

Authors can now easily incorporate multimedia elements like audio and animation to create powerful effects that change the "face" of the Web. These controls help make pages jump out from the maze of sites on the Web, delivering an entertaining environment that compels users to return time and again.

The mechanisms for these new controls make it easy to create dynamic behaviors, yet their capabilities go far beyond those offered by most multimedia tools. In addition, Dynamic HTML Multimedia Controls deliver rich animation without decreasing server performance, and with minimal download time on the desktop computer. Quick downloads result from the fact the controls come in small files that are rendered on the user's computer.

The demos below let you experience Web pages that incorporate Dynamic HTML Multimedia Controls. Watch as objects move about on the page and fade in and out, and notice the changes in how text and graphics are displayed. Perhaps most importantly, check out how fast the new multimedia capabilities are delivered. You need to be running Internet Explorer 4.0 to view the following demos. If you haven't installed it yet, click Download in the column at left, but be sure to read the warning before you proceed with the instructions.

• Lakes & Sons Landscaping. Ever seen trees fall from the sky? You'll see that and more in this demo, which uses Dynamic HTML Multimedia Controls. Notice how many different ways objects display on the screen.
• Lights, camera, action. This demo shows how easy it is to render high-quality, lightweight graphics that are scaleable and can be rotated in three directions. Taking advantage of controls simplified the timing of each object's entry onto the page.
• Acrobats with style. Internet Explorer 4.0 downloads this demo to your desktop quickly and makes it come alive, which means you experience great performance and see complex animation at its best.
• What lurks beneath the water? Users can truly interact with this demo. Click anywhere in the water and watch how the fish follows your every mouse command. This demo shows how Dynamic HTML Multimedia Controls allows static images to be set in motion and placed anywhere you want.
• Blending and fading colors. Dynamic HTML Multimedia Controls are behind these great visual elements. This demo shows how easy it is to blend graphic elements and to fade objects in and out using standard HTML text.
• Transforming Web pages using filters. Select the buttons in this demo and see how you can change the way both text and images display on the page. How'd we do it? Simply. By adding various filters to this Web page, we changed the way the HTML elements—including text, controls, intrinsic controls, and images—appeared on the page.