The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.
One of the major problems with computers is the plethora of file formats. Besides the variety of computer programs, we get different file types with our cameras, camcorders, and myriad other hi-tech toys. We can get lost in a long list of TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) that refer to file formats: DOC, RTF, JPG, MP3, XLS, GIF, PDF, PCX, and many more. Some of them have more than three letters, such as HTML, DOCX, XLSX, and more.
Of course, having all these formats means there will be occasional problems. You may have a file and not have the correct program to use it. For instance, a friend might send you a DOCX file attached to an email program, but your word processor only accepts DOC. Another problem might be that a picture you downloaded from the web is in GIF format, and you need TIFF; or a movie you downloaded might be in 3GP format, but you need it to be in .MP4, .MOV, or .M4V format so that you can save it and view it on your iPhone.
What to do? There are two possible solutions, one of which is both free and easy.
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