Quote Originally Posted by Mr Peabody
Thanks for the info. I didn't think WMA was proprietary, I was under the impression that it was almost as versatile as typical mp3. I just used WMP because it was easier than the other programs I already have on my computer and I didn't want to download anything else just for mp3.
Yeah...anytime a product, software or otherwise has the word "Windows" incorporated in its name (even the "W" should raise a flag), chances are it's proprietary. Same goes for Apple. Good rule of thumb anyway.

It's almost as versatile I guess - pretty much any computer can play it, and maybe 1/2 of all devices out there can, with more and more each year. I think most people use it again because of Microsoft's ability to embed WMP into the operating system and do everything but force it on us. Most people just start using it, then never bother to learn another program and go through the growing pains again. I used it for a few years on my old PC for the same reason - didn't want the bother of using another program.

I've run into problems though - my cell phone won't play wma's and the 1 year old panasonic cd player in my car struggles with vbr WMA's for some reason.