I don't know which one to pick yet. what's the biggest difference bet the 2? i like special effects. heard you got a lot more in MC. what to do with my old media files and projects? will either soft recognize them at all? thx 17" macbook pro intel, 10.4.8.

Yep, it recognizes them all.

As for the comparison, there are product fact sheets on this site that will give you all the info you need to know.

Here are some links you might find useful:

http://www.avid.com/products/editor_upgrades.asp

http://www.avid.com/products/studiotoolkit/

http://www.avid.com/products/datasheets/MCsoftware.pdf

http://www.avid.com/thirdparty/guide/guide-item.asp?productid=50

http://www.avid.com/products/xpressFamily/

There currently is a special offer going on to upgrade to MC, http://www.avid.com/promos/xproMoveUp/ "Exclusive offer for Avid Xpress Pro editors: Media Composer software for only $2995USD until June 26, 2007. "

Btw... and this is in the "off the top of my head" department. ;)

You might want to wait a couple of weeks to see if Media Composer will ship with the new BCC 5.0 version after it is released. It is currently shipping with BCC 4.2.2 and I was told by a Boris rep that they are not offering the free upgrade (those who purchased BCC 4.2.2 by itself recently can get a free upgrade to the new BCC 50 which has been announced, but is not yet shipping) for Media Composer purchasers.