Concerns about switching to the Mac

*Please don't attack me, I don't know much about Macs*

I have 100 GB of video and music compressed to wmv and I want to continue compressing to wmv. Is the Mac happy with wmv?

Also, does the Mac have the same lifespan as a PC for those of us who like to play Starcraft II instead of Solitaire. My concern is, with a PC I could upgrade the video card or processor if necessary but that doesn't seem possible with an iMac. Ironically, one of the reasons I want to move to the Mac is I don't ever want to open a computer case again. But I also don't want to be buying a new computer every two years.

Well, you could continue to use WMV on a Mac...but it would be a hassle to do that. WMV is Microsoft's pet format, and unless you'll be using only Microsoft-licensed products, it's just not practical. And seriously...why?

As for gaming...an iMac could serve as a basic gaming machine for now, but it's not upgradable. The Mac Pro is upgradable, but the current generation is old and very pricey. There are rumors of new Mac Pro models within the next 30 days or so, but I doubt the price situation will improve.

.WMV files will play happily inside QuickTime (and thus iTunes, Front Row, etc.) using a FREE plugin called Flip4Mac. Google it, you'll be good to go. However, I would consider finding that plugin, installing it, and download a free program called iSquint. It utilizes the H264 compression scheme to convert video files to .m4v files which take up far less space and run on the Mac platform without any plugins whatsoever...you'll use far less system resources watching an .m4v file than you will a .wmv file.

iSquint ALSO allows batch conversions! Whenever I am going to be away from my computer for an extended period of time, I set iSquint to convert a batch of say 20 movie files. Could not be any easier.

As for gaming, depending on what you want to play, an iMac will do you fine. You won't be able to upgrade it, but as long as you're not always wanting to play the "latest and greatest", your Mac will last you for years to come. My Macs have all outlived any PC I ever owned.

drh3010 said:

*Please don't attack me, I don't know much about Macs*

I have 100 GB of video and music compressed to wmv and I want to continue compressing to wmv. Is the Mac happy with wmv?

Also, does the Mac have the same lifespan as a PC for those of us who like to play Starcraft II instead of Solitaire. My concern is, with a PC I could upgrade the video card or processor if necessary but that doesn't seem possible with an iMac. Ironically, one of the reasons I want to move to the Mac is I don't ever want to open a computer case again. But I also don't want to be buying a new computer every two years.

Click to expand...

You'll be fine. Unless you are making gaming a high priority, there shouldnt be a problem at all. New iMacs have a decent enough graphics card to be running SCII without an issue. Just dont expect to be running latest gen FPS games at 60fps with graphics maxed.

I have a new Macbook with the lowly integrated graphics card... and it play lord of the rings online, world of warcraft, command and and conquer generals... etc... and although its not max graphics... its enough that I can play and be happy.

Like I said.. if gaming is number 1 in your head, going Apple is probably not the way to go.

All that being said, in terms of having to buy a new computer every two years... with a Mac I wouldn't think you would need to, OS X is far more efficient than Windows could ever wish it could be. Many old Apples can run the latest versions of OS X and software without a hitch.

It sounds to me, like you are where I used to be... PC mentality... you gotta keep upgrading to keep up... but you really dont.

iMacs aren't upgradeable, but then again you still get a lot for them on ebay after a couple of years. It makes just as much sense to get a new Mac in year 3 than it does to upgrade the motherboard, graphics card and GPU in a PC. Because iMacs keep their value, the financial hit isn't that much.