Hi Celia!
I think what TMT means to say is that you can't open a .cat file without Little Reader installed - and Little Reader may only be installed on a PC with a Windows-operating system. (That means Mac users are unable to use our programs unless they follow the instructions included in the link TMT posted above.)
Here's the difference between the types of downloads available from our forum:
1. Infant Stimulation Cards - These are in .DOC (which can be opened by Mircosoft Word), .DOCX (which can be opened by Mircosoft Word 2007) or .PDF(which can be opened by Adobe Acrobat Reader). Once opened, they need to be printed out to be used.
2. Flash Card Printouts - Again, these are in .DOC (which can be opened by Mircosoft Word) or .PDF (which can be opened by Adobe Acrobat Reader). Once opened, they need to be printed out to be used.
3. PowerPoint Slideshows - These are in .PPT (which can be opened using Microsoft PowerPoint) or .PPTX (which can be opened by Microsoft PowerPoint 2007.) Once opened, you may show your child the presentation by using it as a standard PowerPoint Slideshow on your computer.
4. Little Reader Lesson Files - These can only be opened if you have the Little Reader software installed. Once downloaded, they need to be imported into Little Reader, and once you finish importing, you will be able to play them from your computer, or print them out using Little Reader's print function. Little Reader opens, imports and exports only file types that have the .CAT (Categories) and the .PL (Playlists) extensions.
5.) Little Math Files - These can only be opened if you have the Little Math software installed. Once downloaded, they need to be imported into Little Math, and once you finish importing, you will be able to play them from your computer, or use them as icons and pronunciations for your child's math lessons. Little Math opens, imports and exports only file types that have the .LMTP (Presets) and the .LMTM (Media) extensions.
Hope this helps explain things for you!