For a browser, what is the difference between Add-ons, extensions, plugins and a

1. 68

   ahmed.bposted 13 years ago

   For a browser, what is the difference between Add-ons, extensions, plugins and applications?
   
   They look like pretty same. Are they just different words for the same thing or is there some thenical differnce between them as well?

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2. 0

   jlcustompcposted 12 years ago

   No real difference except for application
   
   Add-ons - Extension - Plugins are all really interchangeable
   
   An application is separate from those in that it can run by itself, so to speak.

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3. 60

   keirnanhollandposted 12 years ago

   Add-ons are like growths, and Extensions are like cancer.. An Add-on is like a benign tumor that grows on the browser adding stuff to the browser that wasn't there before. Extensions mutate the existing features of the browser into something more useful. Maybe I should call them gene modifications.  Plug-ins and add-ons are sorta synonymous, but when it comes right down to it, we'll call them add-ons..  But if you desire the separation of terminology, which is tougher in the creation stage of technology than it is in the inter-social semantic aspect, then let's say Plug-ins are like body-modification, like that guy who decides he wants to put a horn in the center of his forehead so people will call him pegasus-man. No, I'm being silly.. Plug-ins are usually pre-compiled code that is called by the browser when a file is loaded but the plug-in either utilizes the in-browser GUI or replaces part of the browsers interface to it's own GUI elements. It's up to the plug-in designer to choose whether to blend in with the browser design or go in an entirely different direction. Leaving the user to have to obtain a skin that makes the browser look like the plug-in, though I have no example of this I know its possible and I know I've had plug-ins where the interface elements were wildly different than the Windowing interface and the browser's interface.
   
   Plug-ins are like tape-worms, or leeches, or well you get the picture.

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