Playing videos on a MAC

Question

Just switched over to mac, sadly when it comes to video playback... it doesn't "just work"
I was hoping that by migrating to Mac I will kiss all codec/program drama goodbye.
What is the best way to go about playing all popular video files on a Mac. I'd like most of my files to play from the same program and be usable in Mac apps.
I was thinking of getting some good converter and convert everything i load to Quicktime.. or maybe some alternative program.
So far I ran into following problems in the first two days of use:
.AVI will not open in quicktime... it plays the 1st second or so of sound and pauses (no picture) ... I downloaded DiVx to watch 'em
.MPG streams from the net OK but when downloaded and played over quicktime it plays without sound (I got something called Flip4Mac but it works for streams only somehow)
Please don't tell me even on the "just working" Mac I will need to operate 4 different video programs and constantly go codec hunting!

Answer 1

Just switched over to mac, sadly when it comes to
video playback... it doesn't "just work"
I was hoping that by migrating to Mac I will kiss all
codec/program drama goodbye.
Since people are always developing new codecs, consider the drama to be a continuing dramatic series.
What is the best way to go about playing all popular
video files on a Mac. I'd like most of my files to
play from the same program and be usable in Mac
apps.
VLC (Video Lan Client) <http://www.videolan.org> is probably the most versatile player. It will play DVDs, DivX, MPEG-2, VOB, .omg, and other formats.
You may also want the Real Player from <http://www.real.com>. Look for the free version at the top right of the page.
Many companies do not allow their code to be incorporated into other programs, so you won't find one program that will play everything.
I was thinking of getting some good converter and
convert everything i load to Quicktime.. or maybe
some alternative program.
Converting almost always involves a loss of quality, and not all formats can be converted.
So far I ran into following problems in the first two
days of use:
.AVI will not open in quicktime... it plays the 1st
second or so of sound and pauses (no picture) ... I
downloaded DiVx to watch 'em
If you install the DivX, 3ivx, and XviD codecs you should be able to watch (and hear) them with QuickTime Player. You may also want to buy the MPEG-2 playback component for QuickTime from Apple. You have an Intel Mac. Some codecs are not yet available in Intel versions. You may be able to get the to work by setting QuickTime Player to use Rosetta mode. Use Get-Info (Cmd-I).
.MPG streams from the net OK but when downloaded and
played over quicktime it plays without sound (I got
something called Flip4Mac but it works for streams
only somehow)
Did you get the latest version from
<http://www.flip4mac.com>, not the old version from Microsoft. I use Flip4Mac and play WMV files, as well as streams, with QuickTime Player. Of course the latest WMV formats can only be played in Windows because Microsoft will not release the code needed to play them.
Please don't tell me even on the "just working" Mac I
will need to operate 4 different video programs and
constantly go codec hunting!
OK. I won't tell you, since you already know.