why wmv to avi on mac

[Mia Yuan]

QT X can play avi files? I always doubt about it... I mean it's mac, does it make any meaning of converting wmv to avi and then watch it in QT on mac????!!
My gf's kept asking me this question, and I can't google it out..
I hope somebody here could help me sort it out.... Thank you guys.

 

[richard.mac]

avi files are containers and if they contain video and audio codecs that OS X can play natively e.g mpeg4 video and mp3 audio then it will play out of the box. if it contains for example xvid video you will have to use a plug-in such as Perian.

wmv can be played in QuickTime Player using Flip4Mac.

 

[Mia Yuan]

Thanks

Thanks for your anwers..
Yeah... I know, but why? I mean why u have to convert from windows to windows on MAC? I just don't understand why people have such demands.

 

[richard.mac]

you dont have to convert to wmv. Mac OS X cant play wmv natively so you have to install a codec that does i.e. Flip4Mac.

 

[Chundles]

Thanks for your anwers..
Yeah... I know, but why? I mean why u have to convert from windows to windows on MAC? I just don't understand why people have such demands.

WMV is a proprietary format. Microsoft owns it. If you want to fiddle with it you need to pay for it.

WMV playback is supported through Quicktime via the Flip4Mac plugin.

AVI is a container, the video format inside it could be WMV, MPEG-4, DivX etc. If the Mac supports the format natively it will play back in Quicktime. If not, you'll need to download Perian.

 

[richard.mac]

cheers Chundles. i was going to add that WMV is proprietary but i didnt seem to type it.

 

[Mia Yuan]

thanks guys
Now i think I'm quite clear about it
Thanks to all of you