Windows Media
Newer versions of WMA became available: "Windows Media Audio 2" in 1999, "Windows Media Audio 7" in 2000, "Windows Media Audio 8" in 2001, and "Windows Media Audio 9" in 2003. Microsoft first announced its plans to license WMA technology to third parties in 1999. Although earlier versions of Windows Media Player played WMA files, support for WMA file creation was not added until the seventh version. In 2003, Microsoft released new audio codecs that were not compatible with the original WMA codec. These codecs were "Windows Media Audio 9 Professional", "Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless", and "Windows Media Audio 9 Voice".