PC OSX file compatibility

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I use a PC & my MIL uses a Mac. We like to trade investment advice & tips etc. Much of what I would like to send her is in the form of audio files but she has trouble playing most of them. She's getting on in age also, so even though she was a programmer and helped in no small measure get us on the moon in 1969, she's at the age where she's gets easily confused.

I've edited all the commercials and non-pertinent stuff out of the files I want to send her & I used Audacity to do it, so I can export the files into various file formats. There's one called "AIFF (Apple) signed 16 bit PCM" - would this be a standard Mac file that whatever audio player she has? And do Mac's come with audio players or does she need to download one? If so, is there one which seems to be EASIER to download than another (we need to keep her end as simple as possible)?

Thanks.
 

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I use a PC & my MIL uses a Mac. We like to trade investment advice & tips etc. Much of what I would like to send her is in the form of audio files but she has trouble playing most of them. She's getting on in age also, so even though she was a programmer and helped in no small measure get us on the moon in 1969, she's at the age where she's gets easily confused.

I've edited all the commercials and non-pertinent stuff out of the files I want to send her & I used Audacity to do it, so I can export the files into various file formats. There's one called "AIFF (Apple) signed 16 bit PCM" - would this be a standard Mac file that whatever audio player she has? And do Mac's come with audio players or does she need to download one? If so, is there one which seems to be EASIER to download than another (we need to keep her end as simple as possible)?

Thanks.
I am absolutely not an expert on this, but it occurs to me your simplest solution would be to download iTunes for Windows. Test your files with that. If they'll play in it they'll play on her Mac.
 
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Thanks for the idea, but that would be a last resort. I deleted iTunes long ago and removed all Apple software including Q'time etc. because of the space and frequent large updates etc.
 
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as for audio, mp3 is pretty standard across all computers

But if you have deleted iTunes and QuickTime, you have basically crippled the Macs ability to play audio and movies
 
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Thanks for the idea, but that would be a last resort. I deleted iTunes long ago and removed all Apple software including Q'time etc. because of the space and frequent large updates etc.

That's ridiculous. Neither take up enough space to even be noticeable on any system made in, oh, the past 15 years. And you can turn off auto-updating, or at least you should be able to. The updates are certainly no more frequent than anything else in Windows. And you can download just Quicktime if you simply don't want iTunes. If you really just want to keep it simple, send as mp3 files as louishen suggests and leave it at that.
Apple - QuickTime - Download
 
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. . . . if you have deleted iTunes and QuickTime, you have basically crippled the Macs ability to play audio and movies

I don't have a Mac and don't use them on my PC. Thanks for the mp3 suggestion I didn't know it was Mac friendly.

That's ridiculous. Neither take up enough space to even be noticeable on any system made in, oh, the past 15 years. And you can turn off auto-updating, or at least you should be able to. The updates are certainly no more frequent than anything else in Windows. And you can download just Quicktime if you simply don't want iTunes. If you really just want to keep it simple, send as mp3 files as louishen suggests and leave it at that.

The laptop I use in my warehouse, from where I send the bulk of my emails to my MIL is pretty old and slow to start with and best as I remember one of the programs was 28MB alone. That's working from memory but it was taking up space I didn't use or need. Why would I want to do that when I never use it?
 

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I think the easiest answer will be getting a good media player on your MIL's system. Quicktime and iTunes are fairly limited in terms of the formats they can play. What I would recommend is VLC Media Player, which comes packed with codecs that can play just about any format under the sun.

Another good addition would be Perian, which is a set of codecs that improve Quicktime's repertoire.

Chances are, with those two items installed, your MIL will be able to open just about any type of file you send her with no trouble.

In this day and age, there's really no reason to concern yourself with making data "Mac friendly". Mac OS X, like most Unix variants running on an x86 platform is pretty compatible across the board, with the right additions to it. The dark ages of Macs being highly proprietary are long gone.
 
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The laptop I use in my warehouse, from where I send the bulk of my emails to my MIL is pretty old and slow to start with and best as I remember one of the programs was 28MB alone. That's working from memory but it was taking up space I didn't use or need. Why would I want to do that when I never use it?

Of your options, you can have you MIL install some other software, or convert your media to something that is compatible with Quicktime. Since you don't want to install anything on your computer, it's hardly fair you should expect her to install something else to accommodate you. Which means you need to convert your media. Converting your media is a lossy process, and if your computer is that old and slow, it may be more time consuming to do that when you can simply install Quicktime and check in advance to see if the media will play in that. Never mind the shadow of doubt that there may be that it converted "properly". Having Quicktime on your PC isn't going to impact your performance (though you should disable the Quicktime launcher helper) or take up a noticeable amount of disk space. Not at 24 MB. And I do say that as a former Windows enthusiast who used Quicktime, so I'm not exactly speaking from ignorance here.
 

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Maybe I am missing something but I understood the OP to mean that he removed iTunes and QuickTime from the Windows box not the Mac. So, if I am correct his MIL should be able to play the files he sends.
 
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Maybe I am missing something but I understood the OP to mean that he removed iTunes and QuickTime from the Windows box not the Mac. So, if I am correct his MIL should be able to play the files he sends.

You aren't missing anything. That's exactly the case, except she *is* having trouble playing the audio files. I can't say why, and I've tried to help her over the phone but that gets complicated for reasons I don't want to detail (age-related).

That's the reason I was asking for ideas. I appreciate the members who answered my question without feeling the need to tell me I'm ridiculous, then essentially scold me. Now to tell me I'm "unfair". I can't believe your arrogance beach. I don't know anything about you, any more than you do me, yet I'm sure you're not without blemish.

I didn't start trouble and I won't be blamed for it without voicing my opinion about the double standard I see. I won't be ruffling anyone's feathers (I don't see how I could have been expected to reply to such churlishness in the first place) here in the future. I'm not one of those that stomps off a forum mad or offended, I'll simply move on with a smile on my face and peace in my heart.

I sincerely appreciate the other replies and I do wish you all (yes even you beach) the very best in the future.

Kind regards, Kevin.
 

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Let's see If we can get this discussion going on a productive note again. Here are a couple of questions that might help:

1. Do you know what happens when your MIL us unable to play a sound? Error messages, garbled sound etc.

2. What System software is the Mac running? She can find this information by going to the Apple menu in the far left of the screen and choose About This Mac.
 

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