The new Windows Media Services feature of Windows 2000 Server breaks down the barriers to enterprise streaming by offering the following benefits: Highest-quality audio and video at any connection speed with the Windows Media Format for audio and near-broadcast-quality video, using less bandwidth compared to other formats; and integrated intelligent streaming that automatically adapts the quality of streaming broadcasts based on network availability and connection speeds Best scalability in the .

Windows Media Services is a feature of Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server. Windows Media Player is a feature of Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server.

They are plugins that can be downloaded and installed on the operating system of your computer which will allow you to play and watch streaming video and audio on comedycentral.com. Windows Media Player is available here:

Windows Media Audio (.wma) produces a better sound in a smaller file size but mp3 is more universal, especially in some portable players. All of the sermons on TheOnLineWord.com are available in mp3 format but you must type the web address (url) directly into your browser or click mp3 after a sermon search. The mp3 web address of ALL sermons will be: where xxxx is the four-digit sermon number. Virtually any computer music player will play mp3 files on almost any operating system.

To play DVDs in Windows Media Player (version 9, 10 or 11) you need a MPEG-2 decoder that is capable of decoding DVD video and is also compatible with WMP. The K-Lite Codec Pack contains a compatible decoder. Some examples of compatible decoders are: Cyberlink, DScaler5, InterVideo, MainConcept and nVidia PureVideo. There are two types of MPEG video, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. The most common one of these two that is used in .mpg/.mpeg files is MPEG-1.

You need to have the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack or Real Alternative installed. The 'RealMedia DirectShow filter' and 'RealMedia codecs' that come with these two packages are required.

Microsoft Windows Media Player is a free download. Click here to review system requirements and download Windows Media Player. Please remember that Windows Media Player 9 Series or newer is required to use OverDrive Media Console.

Windows Media Player can play files in a wide variety of digital media file formats, but Windows Media Services cannot stream all of those files. Servers running Windows Media Services 9 series can stream files that are in the Microsoft Windows Media Audio (WMA), Windows Media Video (WMV), Advanced Systems Format (ASF) and Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG)-1 Layer 3 (MP3) formats. However for MP3 format, Windows Media Services does not support variable-bit-rate .mp3 files.

Windows Media and Real Media are the names of the formats that play videos. Windows Media files are played by the Windows Media Player, and subsequently, Real Media files are played by the Real Media Player. Either player will allow your web browser to display streaming videos. At this time, there is not a consensus opinion on which player delivers higher quality videos.

Windows Media 9 is proprietary, developed by a single company; H.264 has been through intense peer review by worldwide experts from a large number of industry segments and is ratified as a worldwide standard. And while video quality tests are subjective, we believe H.264 delivers superior video quality when compared with Windows Media 9.

Open the Windows Explorer, click on "Tools / Folder Options" and then on the tab "File Types". You have to change the associated application for the file types "PLS" and "M3U" (these are the file extensions for playlist files).

WMVHD files, typically created for playback on the XBOX360, can contain a 5.1 audio stream. If you play such a file on a computer that only has two speakers then you will only hear the sound from two of the six channels. This causes for example the voices (center channel) to be almost unhearable. The solution is to downmix the 5.1 channels into 2 channels. There are two ways to do this. You can either use AC3Filter or ffdshow. In ffdshow audio decoder configuration, go to the 'Codecs' page.

Windows Media DRM is a platform that allows for the secure deployment of pay media for playback on PCs, portable handsets and network devices.

It has the same basic features as before, but it sports a redesigned menu system, mainly so you can control it from an Xbox 360 over your home network.

Windows Media Rights Manager is the technology that allows you to package Windows Media DRM files and issues licenses. You can use Windows Media Rights Manager to encrypt a given digital media file, lock it with a key, and bundle additional information from the content provider. This results in a packaged file that can only be played by the person who has obtained a license.

Windows Media DRM contains a number of features that protect the content file and enables new flexible business models. Windows Media DRM improves the security of the system by making each digital media player unique and linking the player to the host computer. This reduces the likelihood that a compromised player will be widely distributed on the Internet. With individualization, any compromised player can be identified and disabled in the licensing process.

Our videos are for Windows Media Player 9. They will play in earlier versions but without the video codec, only the sound can be heard. Install the codecs from Microsoft?: