A MP3 is a compressed audio data file which maintains fairly high sound quality. An MP3 is basically a condensed .wav file. In this particular file format the size and/or compression of the file is approximately 1/12 the size of a .wav file. For instance, if you have a .wav file that is 100 megabytes in size, the same .mp3 file would be about 9 megabytes. This makes it easier and faster to transfer, download, and share your favorite music online.
MP3 stands for MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) 1 layer 3.
All you need is one program to run your MP3's. The best program that I think is out there is a program called WINAMP which you can download by clicking here. Or you can use your Windows® Media Player which comes already installed with Windows®98. If you are a Power-PC MAC user then you can download a program called MACAMP by clicking here. All these programs are free to download (freeware). After you are done downloading your MP3 program go to where you saved it and click on it then follow the onscreen instructions which will install the software on your computer.
It should look something like this after it has been installed and is running:
