Apparently I'm not the first reader of this thread to have gotten lost in these "circular" (as another poster put it) threads. I believe that many of you are honestly trying to help, but I for one don't even know enough to know what questions to ask . . . especially since I haven't really been able to understand the answers that have been given so far! (And yes, I've read the glossary and several of the guides as well.)
How about a thread locked at the top of this forum (perhaps locked just after the "READ THIS FIRST: Forum Rules" page) that provides a basic, apple-oreinted introduction to ripping and the ripping options and procedures?
Here's some ideas for things to address:
1) What your standard Mac does and does not do for you. (For example, why doesn't iDVD burn files that are ripped onto your mac from programs like Shrink? Isn't this an advantage Macs are supposed to have over PCs? WHy do we need Nero?
2) the various freeware programs that are OSX compatible (yes, you can find some references to some of these, but it takes you two hours and you still don't really know what the differences are!).
3) Does "rip" only refer to hollywood movies, or does "rip" also refer to homemade movies. The term is used loosely here.
4) Since there is no subforum for burning games using Macs, maybe something in this intro guide about how Macs, using these various progams, can burn games as simply as DVDs.
5) Any issues that Mac users face specifically, that PC users do not.
THese are the kinds of things I'd like to see as a new user. Then, when reading the Q&A threads that follow, the newbies will at least know enough to know which threads they need to read and which are not for them.
It's just a suggestion. Unfortunately, I'm not one able to create this guide. Thanks to anyone who takes up the idea!
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