Will iTunes 11 read FLAC files?

I have a large library that I have recently ripped direcly to my Meridian Sooloos System. It exports in FLAC. Will the new iTunes read .FLAC files so I do not have to convert all of them to ALAC?

Correction: FLAC is 99% of the time a higher quality than MP3. FLAC bitrates vary from 700 to 1300 kbps in my experience, while MP3's max bitrate is 320kbps. Lossless audio starts at appr. 700kbps, and only lossless containers support lossless audio (listed below):
.wv: WavPack
.flac: FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec, most widely used)
.m4a: ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) (not all m4a's are lossless, as they can contain lossy or similar quality to MP3's)
.ape: Monkey's Audio Lossless
.tta: True Audio Lossless
.tak: Tom's Lossless Audio Kompressor
.wav: Raw Audio (Largest size)
The larger the audio file for the same number of minutes (meaning both files are the same time length), the better the quality. Thus, raw audio (WAV) is generally the largest.
There are rules however. You cannot "up-convert", that is convert a lower quality audio (eg: MP3) to a higher quality (eg: lossless). This is literally impossible. When a CD is ripped into MP3, large amounts of audio data is lost (usually in frequencies not many can hear). The benefit is that the file is smaller.
If you want to get FLACs or other lossless files into iTunes, the only current way (to my knowledge) is converting the lossless files to ALAC, and then importing to iTunes. FLACtunes can do this for you, and works for the latest iTunes, I believe.
If you don't want to purchase the app, you can get one of the free apps, X Lossless Decoder or xACT, and convert the files manually, then import them into iTunes.
Personally, I hate iTunes for its interface (although I admit, the new interface is an improvement to my liking). If you don't have an iPod you use (like me), I recommend Banshee. It's not my favorite Media Player from Linux, and it's in beta for Mac (no compiling required, thank goodness), but all the features I use are bug-free, and work for me. Plus, the interface is very clean. (Oh, and Last.FM support )
I would use Amarok, my favorite media player from Linux, but getting any version to run in Mac OS X 10.6+ is a pain with MacPorts. I prefer 1.4 version prior to 2.0+, and I can't even get started to compile (and I'm a Linux-guru!). It seems kde3 is not built for Snow Leopard+ in MacPorts. However, I am currently almost finished getting Amarok 2 install with MacPorts (with a few google-fu fixes). Hopefully it will be good to go soon.
Edit: If you use Windows, and want to convert the music, I highly recommend dBpoweramp Music Converter for its accurate conversion. However, if you don't want to pay, I recommend SUPER. It has a semi-clunky interface, but it is free and the best full-featured conversion for audio that you can get for that price. (I don't recommend it for video conversion, as it tends to cause tearing with video. I recommend HandBrake for that.)

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