Software Encoders (Free Versus Pay)

Microsoft provides the Windows Media encoding software free. You can also use many waveform editors to create on-demand Windows Media files. For live stream authoring, you can use the free Windows Media encoder or other third-party tools such as Discreet's Cleaner Live. The third-party tools cost money and are not specific to the Windows Media format. Most of these third-party tools run only on Windows.

For the purposes of this book, you'll use both the Microsoft Windows Media Encoder and Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge waveform editor to create on-demand Windows Media streaming files. For authoring live Windows Media-encoded streams, you'll use the Windows Media encoder.