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MIMEs.info is a free online MIME Type database that provides information about different MIME types and how to work with them.

MIME type came into existence in 1992. It was defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). A MIME type, also known as an internet media type or content type, is a two-part file format and internet identifier. Initially, the identifiers were defined in RFC 2046 for email sent via SMTP.

A media type generally consists of two parts: the type and its subtype, and it may include one or more optional parameters. MIME stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions and is a way to format non-ASCII messages so they can be sent over the internet. Many email clients support MIME types, making it easy to send and receive graphics, video, and audio files. MIME types also provide better support for character-based messages than ASCII values.

You will encounter many MIME types in use in offices. Each MIME type is associated with and supported by specific file extensions. Some MIME types include an ‘x’, while others do not. The ‘x’ in any MIME type indicates that the type is not yet registered with IANA. Some subtypes begin with 'vnd.' and are considered vendor-specific, while others belong to a personal or vanity tree and begin with 'prs.'. Many predefined MIME types are used in offices to speed up work, with GIF graphics and PostScript types being two common examples. You can also define your own MIME types.

Email applications are well-supported by MIME types. In addition to email applications, many web browsers support different MIME types. This makes it easy for the browser to display or handle files that do not belong to HTML file formats. A new version, S/MIME, was introduced to support encrypted messages.

The MIME directory includes various types, such as application, audio, image, message, model, multipart, text, video, vendor-specific, non-standard files, and PKCS standard types. MIME types are widely used due to their applicability and usability. In general, MIME helps to interpret complex data. These types are used by web browsers to display data or launch separate applications to handle data online.