Several types and subtypes of Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) were defined by Request For Comments (RFC) 1341 in 1992. Many more have subsequently been approved by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). It was the expressed intention of the original RFC that the number of MIME types be limited to the seven proposed in the RFC, as follows:
Within each type, various subtypes are allowed and are appended to the type with a slash (/). Tables B.1 through B.7 list all the IANA-approved MIME types and subtypes (in boldface italic) as well as additional types that appear to be supported by the popular servers and browsers. I'm indebted to Ken Jenks for his list found at http://sd-www.jsc.nasa.gov/mime-types/.Table B.1 MIME Type: Application
Win Win AIR Win Mac NCSA W3/ Netscape Mosaic Mosaic Mosaic HTTPD CERN 1.1N 2.0 2.0 1.4.2 HTTPD application/acad [ts] application/activemessage [ts] application/andrew-inset [ts] application/applefile [ts] application/atomicmail [ts] application/cals1840 application/clariscad [ts] application/commonground application/cybercash application/dca-rft [ts] application/dec-dx [ts] application/drafting [ts] application/dxf [ts] application/eshop application/excel [ts] application/fractals [ts] application/i-deas [ts] application/iges [ts] application/macbinary [ts] application/mac-binhex40 [ts] [ts] [ts] application/macwriteii [ts] application/mathematica application/msword [ts] application/news-message-id [ts] application/news- [ts] transmission application/octet-stream [ts] [ts] application/oda [ts] [ts] [ts] application/pdf [ts] [ts] application/postscript [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] application/powerpoint [ts] application/pro_eng [ts] application/remote-printing [ts] application/riscos application/rtf [ts] application/set [ts] application/sgml application/SLA [ts] application/slate [ts] application/solids [ts] application/STEP [ts] application/vda [ts] application/wita [ts] application/word [ts] application/wordperfect5.1 [ts] application/x400.bp application/x-bcpio [ts] [ts] application/x-compressed [ts] application/x-cpio [ts] [ts] application/x-csh [ts] [ts] [ts] application/x-dvi [ts] [ts] application/x-gtar [ts] [ts] application/x-hdf [ts] [ts] application/x-latex [ts] [ts] [ts] application/x-mif [ts] application/x-netcdf [ts] [ts] application/x-rtf [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] application/x-sh [ts] [ts] [ts] application/x-shar [ts] [ts] application/x-stuffit [ts] application/x-sv4cpio [ts] [ts] application/x-sv4crc [ts] [ts] application/x-tar [ts] [ts] application/x-tcl [ts] [ts] application/x-tex [ts] [ts] application/x-texinfo [ts] [ts] application/x-troff [ts] [ts] application/x-troff-man [ts] [ts] [ts] application/x-troff-me [ts] [ts] application/x-troff-ms [ts] [ts] application/x-ustar [ts] application/x-wais-source [ts] [ts] application/zip [ts] Table B.2 MIME Type: Audio Win Win Win Mac NCSA Netscape AIR Mosaic Mosaic HTTPD W3/CERN 1.1N Mosaic 2.0 2.0 1.4.2 HTTPD audio/32kadpcm audio/au [ts] audio/basic [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] audio/wav [ts] [ts] audio/x-aiff [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] audio/x-midi [ts] [ts] audio/x-wav [ts] [ts] [ts] Table B.3 MIME Type: Image ***Note another wider-than-usual table below.*** Win Win Win Mac NCSA Netscape AIR Mosaic Mosaic HTTPD W3/CERN 1.1N Mosaic 2.0 2.0 1.4.2 HTTPD image/bmp [ts] image/cgm image/cmu-raster [ts] image/g3fax image/gif [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] image/ief [ts] [ts] image/jpeg [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] image/naplps image/targa [ts] image/tiff [ts] [ts] [ts] image/x-cmu-raster [ts] [ts] image/x-pict [ts] image/x-portable-anymap [ts] [ts] [ts] image/x-portable-bitmap [ts] [ts] [ts] image/x-portable-graymap [ts] [ts] [ts] image/x-portable-pixmap [ts] [ts] [ts] image/x-rgb [ts] [ts] [ts] image/x-tiff [ts] image/x-win-bmp [ts] image/x-xbitmap [ts] [ts] [ts] image/x-xbm [ts] image/x-xpixmap [ts] [ts] [ts] image/x-xwindowdump [ts] [ts] Table B.4 MIME Type: Message ***Note another wider-than-usual table below.*** Win Win Win Mac NCSA Netscape AIR Mosaic Mosaic HTTPD W3/CERN 1.1N Mosaic 2.0 2.0 1.4.2 HTTPD message/external-body [ts] message/news [ts] message/partial [ts] message/rfc822 [ts] Table B.5 MIME Type: Multipart ***Note another wider-than-usual table below.*** Win Win Win Mac NCSA Netscape AIR Mosaic Mosaic HTTPD W3/CERN 1.1N Mosaic 2.0 2.0 1.4.2 HTTPD multipart/alternative [ts] multipart/appledouble [ts] multipart/digest [ts] multipart/form-data multipart/header-set multipart/mixed [ts] multipart/parallel [ts] multipart/related multipart/report multipart/voice-message multipart/x-gzip [ts] multipart/x-tar [ts] multipart/x-ustar [ts] multipart/x-zip [ts] Table B.6 MIME Type: Text ***Note another wider-than-usual table below.*** Win Win Win Mac NCSA Netscape AIR Mosaic Mosaic HTTPD W3/CERN 1.1N Mosaic 2.0 2.0 1.4.2 HTTPD text/enriched text/html [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] text/plain [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] text/richtext [ts] [ts] [ts] text/sgml text/tab-separated- [ts] [ts] values text/x-setext [ts] [ts] text/x-sgml [ts] Table B.7 MIME Type: Video Win Win Win Mac NCSA Netscape AIR Mosaic Mosaic HTTPD W3/CERN 1.1N Mosaic 2.0 2.0 1.4.2 HTTPD video/mpeg [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] video/mplayer [ts] video/msvideo [ts] [ts] video/qtime [ts] video/quicktime [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] video/x-msvideo [ts] [ts] [ts] [ts] video/x-sgi-movie [ts] [ts] [ts]
In addition to the types indicated, NCSA Mosaic 2.0 supports a type of telnet (with no subtype).
To find out about current IANA-approved media types, visit the anonymous FTP site ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/iana/assignments/media-types/. This site also contains subdirectories named for the major MIME types. A short text file giving an explanation of each approved type appears in each subdirectory.