iMovie equivalent for windows ?

I'm not sure but win7 doesn't come with any programs like iMovie does it?

I'm coming from a sold MacBook pro 17 and iMovie was fun and easy to use and it's my last reason for wanting to wait for the new pro refresh. If there is a windows equivalent I would be in heaven as I am ordering an alienware m17x r3 since I want better gaming performance.

Any help is appreciated!

 

Windows does have windows movie maker for free but it comes as a seperate download when you install windows live.
For a paid product, you cant gomwrong with power director 9 by cyberlink. At 99usd, it is the best consumer grade videomeditor imho.

 

As trvelbug said, there is moviemaker for Windows.
I have no idea what the fruit does...

But on Windows you also have, on the paid side, Pinnancle Studio, Corel and Adobe Premiere Elements.

I personally have Pinnacle Studio which I used to reencode my 5D MK II's videos.
-> if you go down the route of buying software because Windows Movie Maker isn't sufficient, try a free trial of any software - paid there is plenty out there.

 

Thanks guys! I had no idea there was a moviemaker!

I'm not sure I use it enough to spend $100 on a program but iMovie was really simple and fun to use. I just need something real basic with themes I can add a few pics and a song and done.

While I have some of your guys attention, what is rendering? Even encoding? Everytime I see benchmarks it specs on CPU hardware I am absolutely clueless about what all this means. Is it like converting a movie file into a different format?

 

Moviemaker should be enough for the odd video.

rendering -> creating a 3D or 2D image through code (e.g. simulation)
encoding -> changing the type of the codec generally or rather processing the data to create a video.
i.e. images in series, turned into a video would be encoding.

-> something imovie would have done too really. I'd not that much about it. -> you just want to have support for a lot of codecs. If it's also just encoding, have a look at handbrake.

 

You could always go check amazon and get the basic version of Sony Vegas Studio for under $25 bucks(might be even version 10, which is the latest). It pretty solid software. It not iMovie HD(the good one), but the more I am practicing with it the more I am starting dig it and the more robust it is, plus it has features that are comparable to Final Cut Express. My Vaio oddly enough came with the Vegas 8 Platinum pre-installed, and I am told version 10 HD is even easier to use.

Edit: Sony also offers on their software website free tutorials on how to use their software if you do choose to go that route.

 

Microsoft has Windows Live Movie Maker for free. Here's how to get it: Windows Live Movie Maker 2011