Windows Media Platform Updated with Series 9

Windows Media 9 Series, the latest update to Microsoft’s platform for creating, distributing, and playing digital media content, is now available in a public beta. The release contains many incremental improvements and some completely new features, and continues Microsoft’s drive to popularize its Windows Media Format (WMF), which the company believes will spur sales of Windows servers, WMF-enabled devices, and desktop PCs. But even if the new release puts Microsoft ahead of rival RealNetworks in the format wars, it remains unlikely that the WMF—or any other single format—will dominate the digital media space in the foreseeable future.

Goals: Promote Format, Spur PC Upgrades

According to Chief Software Architect Bill Gates, Microsoft spent about US$500 million to develop the Windows Media 9 Series platform. This is an extraordinarily large investment considering that Microsoft makes no incremental revenue from Windows Media tools and applications, all of which are either included as part of Windows or are available as free downloads.