The Internet is a store of easy-to-find useful software programs. The Internet does not have the space limitations of a store, so all kinds of obscure programs are available. It is also open all hours of the day, located at your nearest Internet connection. Some examples of the types of files available are described below. The downside is that downloading files from the Internet can take time. For more information, follow the Download Time link.

Plug-ins

These are programs that can be used to enhance the capabilities of applications you already have installed on your computer. Plug-ins do not run on their own, instead they work as if they are part of some application you already have. For example, you can download programs that add new multimedia features to your web browser software. One of the most famous plug-ins of this type is the Macromedia Shockwave viewer software. This allows your browser to view web pages created with Macromedia Flash. These pages are more interactive than ordinary web pages, and your browser needs to use the Shockwave plug-in to display them properly.

Updates

Some software must change constantly. A good example is anti-virus software. As new computer viruses are found, details of the virus are added to lists called virus signatures. Good anti-virus software manufacturers allow you to update the virus signatures of your installed software from their websites to keep your virus checking up-to-date.

Utilities

Utilities are programs that help improve the performance or management of your computer. Many people create programs like these for fun and make them freely available on the Internet. These range from anti-virus software to alternative web-browsing software.
A good source of software utilities can be found at http://www.tucows.com

Patches

Software applications like Internet Explorer are created from hundreds of thousands or millions of lines of code and they must be run on many different systems. Very few computers contain all of the same hardware components and have the same software installed. This means that testing the software under all possible conditions is impossible and bugs can be difficult to find. When a bug is found the application can be fixed, but if you have already installed it, you will not have the fixed version. A patch is a piece of software you can install to update your application so that the bug is fixed. Patches are often available on the web sites of the companies who make the application.

Drivers

The hardware in your computer requires software so that your operating system can control it. This software is called driver software. If you upgrade a hardware device like a graphics card, you can usually obtain the driver for that device easily from the website of the manufacturer of the device.
Links to the driver download sites of most computer hardware manufacturers can be found at http://www.windrivers.com.