Convert file file mp3 wma

Play Anything

Today's PCs have become entertainment machines. They have processors, large drives, sound and video cards, and CD-RW drives designed for multimedia. We routinely play music on our computers, convert music into MP3 or WMA format for portable music players, and download or stream audio and video from the Internet. But to get the best experience, you still need the right media player.

Choosing that ideal player isn't as easy as you might think. All Windows-based machines come with Microsoft's Windows Media Player, but other players offer some advantages. In the past year, Microsoft has focused on improving the performance of its proprietary Windows Media formats. RealNetworks has tried to create the "universal" player for use with any format. MusicMatch, on the other hand, has concentrated solely on music.

Though in many cases you will pick a player based on the format you commonly use, you now have more choices, since most companies are adding support for more file formats to their media players. And often, the ideal format for storing your music depends on the type of music you listen to and which device you use to listen to it. You may use low-bit-rate files if you want to store many songs on a small portable player or high-bit-rate files to play music on your PC. The same is true with video content, where each format has different strengths.

In the following pages, we help you pick the formats and the media player that is best for you.