Understanding MIME types

The Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) standard was developed so that Web browsers could accurately interpret files. For example, when an announcement file is opened from a Web site, the MIME type indicates that the browser should use Windows Media Player to render the file. When the Web server sends the file to the browser, it specifies the MIME type in the HTTP header.

Each MIME type identifier consists of two parts. The first part indicates the general category to which the file belongs, such as text. The second part of the identifier details the specific file type, such as html. For example, a text/html MIME type identifier indicates that the file is a standard Web page.

If you are using Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0, all of the appropriate MIME types for Windows Media Services are already set. If you are using a different Web server, make sure that the following MIME types are defined in the HTTP Header properties:

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