Windows Media Player is a universal media player released by Microsoft and designed to receive and playback streaming audio and video media over the Internet or your private intranet. The player serves as the successor to the standard media player included with Windows 3.x/95/NT and is a critical component of the newer releases of Windows 98, Windows 2K, Windows XP, and Internet Explorer 5.x/6.x.
At the same time, Windows Media Player also serves as the successor to the standalone Microsoft NetShow player — it retains all of NetShow 2.x's features and functionality as well as delivering a ton of its own. Media Player is also the only client available that will play encoded and/or served NetShow 3.x media files.
