WMA
Windows Media Audio (WMA) is a compressed audio file format developed by Microsoft.
What is WMA file?
WMA file is an audio file compressed with Windows Media compression. It is a proprietary format developed by Microsoft and similar to the MP3 format. WMA file can be converted to other more standardized formats. It is often used for playing music from the Web.
Windows Media Audio is also known as WMA Standard. Microsoft created it to compete against MP3, that was quickly becoming the de-facto standard format for lossy compression.
WMA is a file format based in ASF (Advanced Systems Format) that wraps an audio bitstream. It is usually a final state format for enduser delivery. Sometimes, it is also a middle-state format, e.g., a high-quality audio representation for archiving or as a source when producing lower-resolution streaming versions.
How to play WMA file?
Open WMA file with Windows Media Player
The easiest method is of course to use Microsoft's proprietary media player, Windows Media Player. Windows Media Player comes pre-installed on every Windows machine and will play WMA right out of the gate. Because many Windows users already use WMP as their de-facto media player, it may be smart just to use WMP to playback your WMA files. However, there are many other options if you do not like to use Windows Media Player or prefer another player.
Open WMA file with iTunes
The second most popular media player must be Apple's iTunes, especially with the spectacular popularity of the Apple iPod line of devices. iTunes plays WMA files, but first it will transcode them on the fly to its own proprietary AAC codec. This is a nifty feature if you sync to your iPod on a regular basis as the iPod will not read WMA files if they have not been transcoded. iTunes is just as popular if not more than WMP and will play WMA files after they are transcoded (very quick process) making it a viable alternative.
Open WMA file with Foobar
Foobar is open source, extremely light and will play any audio codec you throw at it. It was an excellent range of plugins as well, but WMA playback is native, as of version 0.9. Foobar is another great alternative to the "big boys" of media players if you don't like all the bloat.
Open WMA file with VLC media player
VLC media player can open the WMA file directly.
