Tips & Tricks

By Sandra Rosenzweig
     
      Recently, Michael Bursak, a civil litigator in Redwood City, wrote to ask for an updated list of which programs open what extension. I can go you one better: FILExt, the File Extension Source, at filext.com. First, though, a definition. An extension indicates what sort the file is, and it comes after the dot in, say, Firefox.exe (an executable file, also known as a program) or Tips.doc (a Word file). Most extensions are well known to the operating system and open with a mere double-click. However, once in a while double-clicking gets you nowhere; enter FILExt. First, read the appropriate Hot Topics entry in the left-hand column of the FILExt webpage to make sure you should open the file in question. Then, type the troublesome extension (e.g., rmvb) into the Search box, and you'll get back the list of programs that open, say, .rmvb (RealVideo variable bit rate) files. Pretty easy.
     

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