Microsoft PowerPoint saves to multiple formats to support different browsers. Since PowerPoint 2000 includes Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0, the most HTML functionality will be achieved with that browser. However, other versions of Internet Explorer and other browsers are supported as much as possible.
PowerPoint supports Version 3.02 of Internet Explorer and Versions 3 and 4 of Netscape Navigator with a simple "publish" mode that displays visual data. Other data that cannot be displayed is preserved for re-reading later.
PowerPoint uses a three-layer data format to display simple slides:
1. A background image for the background of the slide. This file is optional and is a flattened image of the background.
2. HTML 3.2 formatted tags to display information for the slide. To accomplish a 2-D layout, tables will be employed. This file is required.
3. External files that can be overlaid on the background to display images. This can include images, sounds, scripts, and so forth.
For version 2 browsers, text color, background color and font size will not be preserved and the browser defaults will be used. Fonts will be preserved whenever possible to display non-English characters correctly.
"An ActiveX control on this page is not safe. Your current security settings prohibit running unsafe controls on this page. As a result, this page may not display as intended."
ActiveX controls are used to display animations and objects on a master slide.
When the JavaScript support has been turned off or is not available, the following message will be displayed if PowerPoint functionality requires JavaScript:
"This presentation contains graphics that your browser is unable to show. This presentation was optimized for Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 or Netscape Navigator 3.0 or later. If you are using one of these browsers, please check that JavaScript is enabled in your browser."
PowerPoint uses JavaScript for animations in browsers that don't support ActiveX.