Microsoft Windows Media Encoder is a production tool that enables content developers to convert both live and prerecorded audio, video, and computer screen images to Windows Media Format for live and on-demand delivery.

The current version, Windows Media Encoder 9 Series, encodes video using Windows Media Video version 7, 8 or 9. Audio encoding uses a number of Windows Media Audio version 9.1 profiles, including a WMA speech codec, or ACELP.net. Content can also be broadcast as uncompressed audio/video.

This version of Windows Media Encoder enables Two-Pass Encoding to optimize quality for on-demand (streamed or download-and-play) content. It also supports "True" Variable Bit Rate (VBR) Encoding for download-and-play scenarios. True VBR can be applied over the entire duration of a high-motion sequence, ensuring the highest quality. This version also enables Batch Encoding of Windows Media 8, allowing content developers to encode large numbers of pre-recorded media files.

Windows Media Encoder can be downloaded as an application. This application is actually a "wrapper" or GUI of the encoder itself. Developers can write VisualBasic or C applications that can perform the functions found in the application. These applications can be used to automate audio and video production.

The latest Windows Media Encoder 9 Series comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.