The sole exception to this is the WMA 10 Professional codec whose Low Bit Rate (LBR) mode is only backwards compatible with the older WMA Professional decoders at a half sampling rate (similar to how HE-AAC is backwards compatible with AAC-LC). Īll versions of WMA released since version 9.0 – namely 9.1, 9.2, and 10 – have been backwards compatible with the original v9 decoder and are therefore not considered separate codecs. These codecs were Windows Media Audio 9 Professional, Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless, and Windows Media Audio 9 Voice. In 2003, Microsoft released new audio codecs that were not compatible with the original WMA codec. Although earlier versions of Windows Media Player played WMA files, support for WMA file creation was not added until the seventh version. Prior to Windows XP, WMA files were primarily streamed using the Windows Media Source Filter ( DirectShow codec), later being removed in Windows Vista with the addition of Media Foundation.
Microsoft first announced its plans to license WMA technology to third parties in 1999. Newer versions of WMA became available: Windows Media Audio 2 in 1999, Windows Media Audio 7 in 2000, Windows Media Audio 8 in 2001, and Windows Media Audio 9 in 2003. RealNetworks also challenged Microsoft's claims regarding WMA's superior audio quality compared to RealAudio. The former claim however was rejected by some audiophiles and both claims have been refuted through publicly-available codec listening tests. Microsoft claimed that WMA could produce files that were half the size of equivalent-quality MP3 files Microsoft also claimed that WMA delivered "near CD-quality" audio at 64 kbit/s. It was later officially released as Windows Media Audio, as part of Windows Media Technologies 4.0. The first finalized codec was initially referred to as MSAudio 4.0. Malvar was a senior researcher and manager of the Signal Processing Group at Microsoft Research, whose team worked on the MSAudio project. Windows Media player should now be reinstalled.The first WMA codec was based on earlier work by Henrique Malvar and his team which was transferred to the Windows Media team at Microsoft.
Scroll down and expand Media Features, select the Windows Media Player check box, and click OK.
Windows Media Player should be uninstalled. Scroll down and expand Media Features, clear the Windows Media Player check box, and click OK. If you want to reinstall Windows Media Player, try the following:Ĭlick the Start button, type features, and select Turn Windows features on or off. For Windows 7 N or KN editions, get the Media Feature Pack. Included in Windows 7 Starter, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions. Windows Media Player isn't available for Windows RT 8.1. For Windows Media Player 12 for Windows 8.1 N and KN editions, get the Media Feature Pack.
Go to the DVD playback for Windows page to find out how to add DVD playback to Windows 8.1. Included in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Pro, but doesn't include DVD playback.
Go to the DVD playback for Windows page to find out how to add DVD playback to Windows 10. To do that, select the Start button, then select Settings > Apps > Apps & features > Manage optional features > Add a feature > Windows Media Player, and select Install.ĭVD playback isn't included. In some editions of Windows 10, it's included as an optional feature that you can enable. Included in clean installs of Windows 10 as well as upgrades to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1 or Windows 7. (If you've got a Mac, you can download Windows Media Components for QuickTime to play Windows Media files.) Use this table to find the right version of the Player for your system. Windows Media Player is available for Windows-based devices.
Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 Windows Media Player More.