The Windows Media platform is a family of components that support the creation, distribution, and consumption of digital media across a broad range of scenarios. The primary components are its audio and video codecs. These codecs have been designed to scale from resolutions appropriate for portable devices all the way up to theater screens. In the spring of 2006, the Emmy Award-winning codec known as Windows Media Video 9 was officially standardized by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) as "VC-1."

Creation of VC-1-based video, Windows Media Audio–, and Windows Media Audio Professional–based content is performed through a wide range of tools that support the codecs and the Windows Media format container. A majority of industry companies all integrate with the platform—such as Avid, Adobe, Sony, and Autodesk with nonlinear editing tools; and TandbergTV, Sorenson, Sonic Solutions, Inlet Technologies, and Digital Rapids with scenario-specific encoding products. Within audio creation tools, Windows Media Audio– and Windows Media Audio Professional–based content can also be created through most mainstream digital audio workstation (DAW) products such as those from Digidesign, Cakewalk, Sony, and Steinberg.

After content is compressed into one of the Windows Media codecs, it is typically delivered in the Windows Media format container (.asf or .wmv). The Windows Media container is a versatile envelope that supports a variety of streaming and download scenarios. It is also closely integrated with Windows Media digital rights management (DRM), which can securely encrypt the Windows Media package to support various business models.

With VC-1 video, the codec can be delivered without using the Windows Media container. For example, with HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, VC-1 is delivered as part of the muxed stream; and in broadcast or IPTV scenarios, VC-1 is often delivered within an MPEG-2 transport stream. In addition, VC-1, like many codecs, can be mapped into Material eXchange Format (MXF) for easy interchange among applications, and it can be carried within the .mp4 file format.