Converting files to mac recognizable?

hi all,
new user here. a couple of quick questions.
1. is there a user manual document that i can print pages out of? i accessed the help from adobe air but i cannot find a way to print and copy paste results in irrevocably messed up formatting.
2. i moved to mac about four years ago and am in the last throes of organizing my data. is there a way to easily convert .mov, .avi., .cel, or .mp4 files to mac recognizable formats (i know in a couple of cases the file itself must be corrupted and it is not an issue of the file format).
3. can anyone help me understand a good way to /store/ my various files in a database? right now i have some in aperture but since i have pdf and mov and mp4 and all manner of slideshows/videos this is a bit perplexing and hard to manage.
thanks in advance and apologies if these questions are in the wrong place or too "newbie".

hi todd.
i think you are focusing on semantics to a point that is unhelpful to me as a new user. i can't tell if this is just an inability to see the real intent of the question (which seems obvious to me but i am a new user so it may not be) or if it is deliberate. If you snip portions of my questions and pull them out of the context of the OP it is going to be difficult for me to arrive at a good solution (which is why i am posting).
i deal with /very/ complicated files all the time and it is obvious that one uses software in most cases to view and/or use the files. currently i run two Mac OS's, two native Windows OS's and four virtual machines. it is obvious that it is not the OS that is opening the files. however, tools such as Quick Look (Mac OS) are very helpful for seeing files without opening them (and this is only available on Mac OS), then there are software tools such as Aperture (which is Mac Only as far as I know) and various Adobe products (which function slightly different on different OS's but again as far as i know).
the question i am posting is WHAT software do folks use to view their files on Mac OS, WHAT software to they use to convert their files to "mac friendly" formats (and if this works well) and WHAT format do they convert files to (or if they deliberately do not convert due to loss of some kind of data or performance issues) and IF they are using AME to do the conversion.
this seems like a pretty straightforward question and other than suggest i read read the user manual (i'm waiting for a "RTFM"...) or to post elsewhere i am having a hard time finding any good information in your responses. maybe i am not asking questions directly enough or you are a pro level user and you are having trouble understanding newbie questions, i am not sure.
what i am trying to do is to avoid reading up on Codex and having all manner of conversion software on my Mac or five different software programs loaded onto my computer to read all the various file types. the reason i have to do this is because AVI (for instance) is a PC based format that only works well on PC AFAIK. i would also very much like to avoid using FInder to store all this data so that it is organized in a way i can be productive. all of this should be pretty hard to misinterpret. i mean, it is no secret that reading video files created on a PC is a bit of a mess on the Mac is it?
when you turn around my post and instead ask four questions of your own - starting with the directive that i first answer "1. what application am i using to view video files?" i think you are missing the point of the question. i am /storing/ mov and m4v videos in Aperture because this is the program that CREATED them and i am using whatever program opens (or tries to open the files when i click on one of the seven file formats). i am doing this because these file formats came over from a PC and because they are just sitting in finder in folders named according to the FILE TYPE. the folders are named according to file type because they are not organized anywhere and i can't get a streamlined workflow to open them and store them.
THIS is why i asked you if you could give me a quick explanation of what to do when i try to open a file and it - for instance - opens in AME. i am in the AME forum and as a new user i simply get a LIST OF FILES in this software which i never used before and i just want to get them out - or converted - so i can move forward with other tasks. i am not even sure this software is going to be useful to me other than converting one file format to another. pointing me to a 100+ page manual when i don't even know the term that the software uses to do this task or what task i am trying to accomplish (or even why the file was opened in this software!!) seems a tad passive-aggressive for my taste and it certainly does not help me get off the blocks with moving forward with Adobe Suite Products...
i don't want to sound ungrateful for an honest attempt at helping a new user but can you directly answer one of the questions and not try and rephrase what you think i should be asking? alternatively, if you are genuinely confused by the question (again i am a new user) can you ask me to clarify instead of telling me what you think i should be asking...? i ALWAYS find this works better when i am the OP.

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