The ogg file format is an open standard container format used to provide more efficient streaming and higher quality presentation. It is typically used to encode content found freely available on the Internet to improve the streaming quality of the content. The Xiph.Org Foundation put together the specifications for the open standard hoping to create a patent free method for encoding media. When using the ogg file format, a decent sampling rate is around 96kbits, a 96kbit ogg file is comparable to a 160kbit MP3 file. The compression is much better, allowing smaller file sizes and better quality files.

The audio found within ogg files is purely stored within the file. The ogg file format is a container file for the actual audio being encoded. This allows audio to be compressed and manipulated to use less overhead when streaming. Applications can then decode the information stored in the ogg files and play them back just like files formatted in other more common file formats.

The most popular and successful of the Xiph.Org foundations formats is Vorbis, an encoder designed to compete with the likes of MP3 and AAC files. They are also working to create a patent free video format along the lines of MPEG. Patent free audio and video formats for Internet content, like the ogg file format, will make it easier for consumers and general Internet users to stream content they create with less overhead and in the future, fewer issues related to software that will use the format.

Today, there are some mainstream players that will accept the ogg file format, such as iTunes, iMovie, QuickTime, and Windows Media Player. These players will require a free codec, a set of files that recognizes additional formatting types, to be downloaded to use the ogg file format. The Free Software Foundation (FSF) also has a free ogg file format player available from their website.

As recently as 2007, the FSF started an online campaign to use Vorbis audio and ogg files as an alternative to MP3 music files. The benefit here would be that Vorbis is legal and free for anyone to use. They have also created a badge that can be downloaded for use on blogs and other websites to support the movement.

While many players, both portable and software based, will likely stick to AAC and MP3 formats for some time, the ogg file format is here to stay. The amount of free and community driven support for the project generated by the FSF and by Xiph.Org is an outstanding testament to just how the Internet community thrives on keeping these things in the hands of the users. With the introduction of codecs to support the ogg file format in many of today’s most popular music players, there are no shortage of ways to use the free format.