WMV Files

Being able to enjoy many various forms of media is surely one of the greatest things about the computers today. Being only black or white at some time, today computers are more advanced and are a complete entertainment system for most people. There is extensive use of media players by people to view audio and video files on their computers. WMV is one such file type delivering synchronous audio and video, and is very popular among people. This format is very easy to play and is thus very common.

What is WMV?

Little more should be known about this format before you play these files. WMV is the abbreviation for Windows Media Video, which was developed by Microsoft, for the special purpose of internet streaming. However, these files can be viewed from any other media source as well. WMV9 is the current available version of this format. A codec however, is required to play this file format. The software which can successfully read a particular format and create audio and video images from any data provided is called as a codec. The codec required for WMV files is generally free and very easy to find.

Playing WMV files on a Windows operated computer –

You should be facing no problems in playing WMV files if your computer has an operating system equivalent of Windows 98 or above. A decent processor, video card, good RAM and a good sound card however, are a few prerequisites that are required for good results. System requirements for good results can be found here – Microsoft Media Player Requirements. WMV files can be viewed by a majority of users smoothly.

The operating system in use by you should have preloaded Windows Media Player (WMP), as the WMV format was developed by Microsoft. The codec required for viewing audio and video files is already present in WMP. However, if you have a computer which is some years old, then upgrading your version of WMP might be a good idea. To get the latest version you could visit – Download Windows Media Player.

Launching your WMP and simply choosing which file you wish to play is enough to launch the file. In case you are not a particular follower of Microsoft products, then you could use various other media players which include this codec such as Winamp, VLC, DivX etc.

Playing WMV files on the Mac –

All the people who are using a Macintosh based computer need not be disheartened as they can also view WMV files on their pc by simply downloading their version of WMP form: Media Player for Macintosh.

WMV files on a Linux computer –

For a computer operating on Linux, there are many media players available, such as the Essential Media Package, VLC, Xine etc. which include the WMV codec. Following a similar process as is with the Macintosh, you are required to first download and install the software before you can view your WMV files. The media player for Linux can be downloaded from here: Linux Media Player.

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