Windows XP for Dummies

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Chapter 13: Sound! Movies! Media Player!

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A RealAudio: Another popular sound format for streaming music over the Internet. Media Player does not support RealAudio, and you must download a separate RealPlayer from

www.real.com

. (Microsoft is hoping to wipe out RealAudio with WMA.) A Sampling: How closely the computer pays attention to the sound. The higher the sampling rate, the more attention the computer’s paying. A higher sampling rate translates to a better sound — and a much bigger file when saved to disk. Most cards sample at 11, 22, or 44 kHz. A Skins: Cosmetic enhancers for a program. Click Media Player’s Skin Chooser button to give Media Player a whole new look. A Sound module: A box-like contraption that creates sounds but doesn’t have a keyboard: a drum machine, for example. A Telephone quality: A term that Windows XP uses to describe mono sounds recorded at 8-bit, 11 kHz. The recording sounds like a telephone conversation. A WAV : The format that Windows uses to store and play digitally recorded sounds. Pronounced “wave." A Weighted keys: If a synthesizer’s keyboard feels like a keyboard on a real piano, it probably has weighted keys — and up to $2,000 more on its price tag. A Winamp: The most popular MP3 player by far, Winamp offers regu- lar updates, easy customization, and great sound. Check it out at

www.winamp.com

. A Windows CE: A miniature version of Windows that runs on Pocket PCs.