[Joe Ross]

Depends on what you mean. It would a *huge* security hole if one could launch any program at any time. Imagine if the website launched "del c:\*.*".

However, if you are downloading a file, the web browser can open up an application to view the file based on extension or MIME type.

I also beleive that a java or activeX appliction can launch another application, but you would be required to lower the security settings of your browser.

There are also a few security holes in IE that could be used to do this.