<s>
ART	O
is	O
a	O
proprietary	B-Application
image	O
file	O
format	O
used	O
mostly	O
by	O
the	O
America	O
Online	O
(	O
AOL	O
)	O
service	O
and	O
client	B-Protocol
software	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ART	O
format	O
(	O
file	O
extension	O
"	O
.art	B-Application
"	O
)	O
holds	O
a	O
single	O
still	O
image	O
that	O
has	O
been	O
highly	O
compressed	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ART	O
format	O
has	O
similarities	O
to	O
the	O
progressive	O
JPEG	O
format	O
,	O
and	O
certain	O
attributes	O
of	O
the	O
ART	O
format	O
can	O
lead	O
to	O
image	O
quality	O
being	O
sacrificed	O
for	O
the	O
sake	O
of	O
image	B-General_Concept
compression	I-General_Concept
(	O
for	O
instance	O
,	O
the	O
image	O
's	O
color	O
palette	O
can	O
be	O
limited	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
the	O
AOL	O
client	B-Protocol
's	O
web	O
browser	O
also	O
automatically	O
served	O
such	O
images	O
in	O
the	O
ART	O
format	O
to	O
achieve	O
faster	O
downloads	O
on	O
the	O
slower	O
dialup	O
connections	O
that	O
were	O
prevalent	O
in	O
those	O
days	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
conversion	O
was	O
done	O
in	O
the	O
AOL	O
proxy	B-Application
servers	I-Application
and	O
could	O
be	O
optionally	O
disabled	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
With	O
later	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
Graphic	O
Workshop	O
Professional	O
software	O
,	O
an	O
ART	O
plugin	B-Application
from	O
Alchemy	O
Mindworks	O
is	O
required	O
for	O
this	O
support	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
2000	I-Application
platform	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
the	O
AOL	O
Image	O
Support	O
Update	O
which	O
added	O
support	O
for	O
ART	O
images	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
June	O
2006	O
the	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
browser	O
no	O
longer	O
supported	O
ART	O
files	O
when	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
a	O
security	O
update	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
other	O
things	O
,	O
this	O
update	O
removed	O
support	O
for	O
ART	O
files	O
from	O
the	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
browser	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
help	O
prevent	O
issues	O
where	O
invalid	O
ART	O
data	O
could	O
cause	O
the	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
software	O
to	O
unexpectedly	O
quit	O
.	O
</s>
