What Is the File Extension .RA?
The .RA file extension is used by audio files that are created using the RealAudio codec. RealAudio is one of the oldest systems used for streaming music and spoken-word broadcasts online.
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History
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RealAudio debuted in 1995. At the time, its claim to fame was the ability to stream relatively high-quality music to listeners who connected to the Internet using slow dial-up modems.
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Today
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RealPlayer, the program used to play RealAudio files, is up to its eleventh major revision. The program is also able to stream video files online.
Alternative Players
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RealAudio is a proprietary compression codec; the only officially supported player for these files is RealPlayer. Nevertheless, attempts have been made to create third-party programs to support these files. Real Alternative is one popular third-party program that plays RealAudio files.
Competition
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The popularity of the RealAudio format has waned in recent years due to the ubiquity of YouTube, which uses Flash as its streaming media codec.
"Badware"
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In 2008, Stopbadware.org gave RealPlayer the name "badware," due to an engine that is installed with it to display advertisements on the computer.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit ""Who hears music, feels his solitude / Peopled at once"" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: Elmo Alves (Elmo Alves) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
