A basic and properly structured HTML/CSS drop down menu can serve you just as well. In fact, it may make your site appear more responsive to not use animations and instantly display the menu instead.

jsFiddle lets developers play with the three core elements of Web development. Check out this powerful application for rapid prototyping and testing.

Ryan Boudreaux includes all the code snippets you'll need in this demo of how to create an image hover-preview effect using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.