If you don't have it and you go to a site with Flash you will be asked if you want to install it. If you already have Flash it will automatically play the movie in your web browser.

Although Flash is not an internet standard like the web, Adobe have always made the Flash Player free to users.

They have also published the details of how Flash movies work so there are alternatives to Adobe's Flash Player for people who don't want to use it.

To get your own copy of the Adobe Flash player, follow these step-by-step instructions .

New versions

Every now and then a new version of Flash is released, and you may need the latest version of the Flash Player in order to see pages created using it.

Most websites that use Flash automatically detect which version of the player you have, and they will prompt you if you need to upgrade.

You should always be careful to check that you are copying files only from the Adobe website when this happens, as otherwise the file you download might be a fake, and you could get a virus or even a trojan.

Use these step-by-step instructions to download the latest version.

Good points about Flash

Flash animations have reasonably small file sizes, so larger and more complex animations can be put online and downloaded reasonably quickly.

They can also have interactivity built into them, which is popular for online games and special effects on web pages.