Compatibility

• Microsoft originally developed the WAV format, also called WAVE, for use on Windows and IBM-compatible computers. Most operating systems, however, can now read WAV files. AIFF files were originally developed by Apple. They are less popular than WAV files, and are primarily used on Macintosh systems. Some professional-quality music programs for Windows or Linux can also use AIFF audio files.
  
  

Quality

• WAV and AIFF are lossless formats, and use no compression. This preserves the quality of the audio, but produces a very large file size that can be difficult to transfer electronically. AIFF files can also come in the related AIFF-C format that supports compression ratios of up to 6 to 1. While WAV files can also technically contain compressed data, they are rarely used for this purpose, since the resulting file size is still quite large.
  
  

Uses

• WAV-format audio was once very common, but has fallen out of use, as the files' large size makes them cumbersome to transfer. However, musicians use the WAV format to store high-quality archived music when disk space is not a concern. WAV files also work well for audio editing, are used to produce system sounds in some Windows applications. Like WAV, AIFF audio works well for editing and archival storage, where fidelity is a bigger concern than file size. However, AIFF is rarely used for system sounds.
  
  

Considerations

• While AIFF is more common than WAV for certain Mac audio editing applications, it may not be best for all uses. Since few non-Macintosh programs use the AIFF format, WAV may be a better choice if you wish to send audio to others during the editing process, or if you expect to use many different computers to open your audio files.