If you’ve ever used H.264 on a Windows machine, I’m sure you thought it sucked. Up until a month ago I hated H.264. All my favorite podcasts were converting to it, and I had no choice but to suck it up. It’s not that the quality of H.264 is terrible, it’s just that H.264 is a resource hog. If I could get a video to play, which was a job in itself, it would stutter.

Then I got a Mac. H.264 was amazing. It looked wonderful, played wonderfully, and felt fast. Since I’ve had my Mac I’ve actually been downloading the H.264 version over the Xvid. So why is the viewing experience better on Mac? To answer that we’re going to have to go through some tests.

First, I’ll cover the hardware used. The Windows box is an AMD Athlon 2500+ with 768MB of RAM, and an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card. The Mac box is a Celeron D 325 with 512MB of RAM, and an integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900. In an AnandTech CPU benchmark between the Celeron 325 and Athlon 2500+, the Celeron performed slightly under the Athlon. Obviously, 768MB of RAM is greater than 512MB; and a 9800 Pro destroys integrated graphics. So, technically the Mac box is significantly slower than the Windows box.

Now for my tests. Test #1 was done with this week’s Diggnation. The Windows box took about twenty seconds to start playing the video, and once it started it kept up at a good rate. However, once I readjusted the window size, or loaded up fullscreen, the video would have to “rebuffer”. It would take around ten seconds to start playing full motion again. The Mac box played the video file just fine. As soon as it loaded, it played. If I adjusted the size of the window or loaded fullscreen, the video continued to play at a constant frame rate.

Test #2 was done with the NASA Space Shuttle Quicktime H.264 demo using the 480p version. The Windows box was barely chugging along. While the audio stayed consistent, I was only getting around one frame for every five seconds. On the Mac box, the video took about three seconds to start playing smooth. Once it was playing smooth, it kept up with the video until I would adjust the window. When I adjusted the window, it would slow down for a second or two, then resume the smooth playback.

Alright, let’s get this straight. We have a Windows box and a Mac box. Both the Windows box and the Mac are running the latest version of Quicktime 7. The Mac box is slower than the Windows box. Yet, the Mac box plays H.264 better. I don’t know, something just doesn’t add up.

Yes, that’s right Windows users. Window’s Quicktime 7 is a piece of crap for H.264. It’s not that Windows can’t handle H.264, it’s just that Apple doesn’t want to devote all the resources required to make smooth H.264 playback a reality. You can’t blame Apple, they want you to think that the Mac is faster than a Windows machine, because it plays H.264 better. Unfortunately for Apple, H.264 is a standard format, and anyone can make a player.

What I’m getting at is, don’t hate H.264. While H.264 does require intense computer resources, it’s not that our currently computers can’t handle it. It’s just the main player doesn’t fully take advantage of what’s available to it. So, next time you have to play a H.264 video on a Windows machine, do yourself a favor a play it with VLC. Your computer will thank you.