How exactly is Mac good for multimedia? Kind of a hassle

Hey guys,

After having a HP laptop, I recently got a Macbook Pro (15 inch, 2.33 ghz). It's really been great so far, but there are so many things that are such a hassle.

So far there are lots of things that the Mac OS does wonderfully, but there are many things that it just doesn't do as easily as Windows, such as a lack of true customization in almost everything.

I transfered all of my files over from my old laptop. I can't play half the video files, even with VLC downloaded, and I am completely lost as to what codecs to get and such, because everything is bundled as a huge package that I don't want or need. With Windows I could just download a codec pack and a media player and be good to go.

Along with the OS, Firefox can't play most files because the necessary programs/codecs aren't on the system. And usually the file type is "unknown" so I don't even know what to look for.

I like doing DVD authoring, but iMovie and iDVD are simply not advanced enough to make the kind that I need (for example, multiple .mkv files onto a playable DVD with customized menus and whatnot). So I have to obtain an expensive program (Final Cut Pro) that doesn't even have as many tutorials as the programs for Windows have. In other words, there is no easy way to figure out how to do what I need to do.

I took the advice of creating a basic user account separate from the Admin account, which has been nothing but a headache. Constantly having to validate, and apparently the folder view options do not save like they do for the admin. My folder views and icons sizes are constantly messed up, so I have to switch accounts all the time.

iTunes does not have half the usability of Winamp. It's good, but it tries to take over too much stuff where I would rather have full control, such as my music library and tag editing.

Instead of having a small list of programs that can do several functions, with Mac I have to download over a dozen 10 mb apps that have only one or few purposes. I also have to use more than one type of app for something as where on Windows I only needed one (video playback, BitTorrent, ripping, burning) due to all the different filetypes and mixed functionality.

All in all Mac OS is a pretty solid and enjoyable to use....but I just can't get it to be as easy as XP. Can anyone help or give any advice?

d_rock said:

...as easily as Windows...With Windows I could .....programs for Windows have.... the usability of Winamp. .....on Windows I only needed ......

but I just can't get it to be...XP. Can anyone help or give any advice?

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Yes, if you want to learn how to do things with OS X, forget about how you did things in Windows and what programs you used with Windows while you are using your Mac.
As simple as it sounds, you aren't using Windows when you are on a Mac. Constantly comparing things to how they were done on Windows is only going to make things more difficult.

As far as the second user account, that is really only necessary if there are going to be multiple people using the machine. In UNIX and Linux, it is wise to create a seperate user, so the all-powerful Root user isn't running... but in OS X the Root is disabled, even with the Admin account. There is no real benefit from creating another user account if you are the only person using the machine.

D3v1L80Y said:

Yes, if you want to learn how to do things with OS X, forget about how you did things in Windows and what programs you used with Windows while you are using your Mac.
As simple as it sounds, you aren't using Windows when you are on a Mac. Constantly comparing things to how they were done on Windows is only going to make things more difficult.

As far as the second user account, that is really only necessary if there are going to be multiple people using the machine. In UNIX and Linux, it is wise to create a seperate user, so the all-powerful Root user isn't running... but in OS X the Root is disabled, even with the Admin account. There is no real benefit from creating another user account if you are the only person using the machine.

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Oh really? That's good to know. So I could just make my regular account the Admin and delete the other account?

Yep. Whoever told you to create a standard account obviously didn't know what they were talking about. The Admin account for the Mac isn't as dangerous as the Admin account for Windows. To do some serious damage, you need Root access like DB said.

Like DB stated (and very likely everybody else will as well), a Mac is not Windows and you need to learn how to do things the Mac way rather than try and get the Mac to do things the Windows way. You'll save yourself a major headache if you keep this in mind.

I have yet to experience any problems playing any video format on my Mac. I installed Flip4Mac for my wmv files and use VLC for mostly everything else (I think Quicktime is a pain) and everything just works peachy. What format are your videos?

What files are you trying to get Firefox to run? It's a web browser, you shouldn't really need it to "play" anything.

I can understand not liking iTunes as there are many people who don't. There are many media players out there for the Mac. I don't know any off the top of my head as I rather like iTunes, but I'm sure you can find some with a simple Google search.

Finally, iMove and iDVD. They are rather basic programs, and Apple advertises them as such. They were never designed for professional use. That's where Final Cut comes into the picture. It's a program designed for professionals who need more power than Apple's basic programs offer. This shouldn't really be a knock against Windows as its movie editing program is quite basic as well and you need to buy a third-party application to fulfill your professional needs.

As with any system, you're going to have issues unless you have the codecs you need installed...

As with any system, you're going to have issues unless you have the codecs you need installed...

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Following this line of conversation - is there a way to tell which codecs a movie file might need? I get some videos that Quicktime happily tells me I need additional software to play. I click the "Continue" button and I end up on a generic Quicktime page with a bunch of retail plug ins listed with no indication as to which one I actually need.

Very frustrating. I don't want to have to buy them all to detemine which one I need.

D3v1L80Y said:

Yes, if you want to learn how to do things with OS X, forget about how you did things in Windows and what programs you used with Windows while you are using your Mac.
As simple as it sounds, you aren't using Windows when you are on a Mac. Constantly comparing things to how they were done on Windows is only going to make things more difficult.

As far as the second user account, that is really only necessary if there are going to be multiple people using the machine. In UNIX and Linux, it is wise to create a seperate user, so the all-powerful Root user isn't running... but in OS X the Root is disabled, even with the Admin account. There is no real benefit from creating another user account if you are the only person using the machine.

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This post hould be shipped with every Mac, just for switchers.

When I 1st started using iTunes and iPhoto on the Mac, I was obsessed with ensuring all the files got organised the way I wanted them to be, so I spent most of my time in Finder moving things about and keeping track of everything. I felt like my Mac was working against me, not with me - I was still in Windows mode. With OS X, the idea is that the user should really never have to use finder or find and rename files, move them about or put them in folders, because it's all done via the front end. You do lose some flexibility, but in my opinion, you gain a lot more order and spend more time listening to music and editing photos (than trying to organise endless folder trees).

It is a different way of working though, so I understand what you're experiencing. Virtually every ex-windows user goes through this.

As for an alternative to iTunes on Mac, try Songbird, which is cross format and has a Media Player feel to it - you might find it appealing.

http://www.songbirdnest.com/

Thanks for the insight Zoolook.

Don't get me wrong, I love the OS and am very happy with the system. There are just a lot of times where I look at the screen and go "Huh? Shouldn't that be part of the OS to begin with?"

Someone asked about Firefox...
There are a lot of sites with embedded media (movie trailers, video game trailers, comedy sites) that use Windows Media as well as Quicktime, and I just don't trust that flip4mac or whatever it's called...it looks like I have to download a whole package just to get one little plugin.

Also, the video codecs. Quicktime just doesn't handle all the media files I have, and even VLC has trouble with most. I'm talking lots of avi's and mpegs of TV episodes and such that other people have encoded and posted on the net, meaning there are all kinds of codecs needed. The Divx official download is sketchy, and the Divx player itself seems useless. It seems hard to find the codecs needed for Mac playback.

d_rock said:

Someone asked about Firefox...
There are a lot of sites with embedded media (movie trailers, video game trailers, comedy sites) that use Windows Media as well as Quicktime, and I just don't trust that flip4mac or whatever it's called...it looks like I have to download a whole package just to get one little plugin.

Also, the video codecs. Quicktime just doesn't handle all the media files I have, and even VLC has trouble with most. I'm talking lots of avi's and mpegs of TV episodes and such that other people have encoded and posted on the net, meaning there are all kinds of codecs needed. The Divx official download is sketchy, and the Divx player itself seems useless. It seems hard to find the codecs needed for Mac playback.

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You don't "trust" flip4mac? That has got to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. It's a small 3MB download, far from "a whole package". Here's the direct download link if you're having trouble finding the free Quicktime plugin.

I've only had to install two codecs to get everything to work on a Mac. First was the flip4mac codec, and the other was Perian. With those two, I have yet to find a video format that doesn't work on OS X.

Willem said:

Following this line of conversation - is there a way to tell which codecs a movie file might need? I get some videos that Quicktime happily tells me I need additional software to play. I click the "Continue" button and I end up on a generic Quicktime page with a bunch of retail plug ins listed with no indication as to which one I actually need.

Very frustrating. I don't want to have to buy them all to detemine which one I need.

Click to expand...

if the file is .avi you probably need the DivX download.

I play all my media files via Quicktime and I've only got flip4mac installed. I might have others, but I haven't checked lately. And by all media, I mean avi's, mpeg's, wmv's, mov's, etc.

I have a feeling some of the videos he maybe having issues with are encoded with strange codecs like say the ATI.VCR one for an example that all ATI capture cards encode with. Try mPlayer. It plays the ATI codec encoded videos and a few others I have ran into that even PCs unless they have that ATI codec install have issues with.

Is there any way you can give a few URL's to videos you have having issues with so we can see what is going on?

Here is a url for mplayer so you can try it on some of those problem videos.

http://mplayerosx.sourceforge.net/

Just install Perian, nearly everything should work then...

http://perian.org/