Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I recorded 400 different videos from my daughter's first cry to her 1st birthday. I cannot get the recorded videos to play back from any software other than Sony's proprietary software. Sony's tech support states to "I'm sorry for the difficulties, here is a link describing why Sony's videos won't play back on Windows Media Software" [...] I understand that Sony cannot support every 3rd party software, but why does Canon and Samsung and Apple product have videos that are supported by Windows Media Player? Sony support states that their videos require a special codec. What the heck do I care? All any user wants is to be able to record and edit on any PC or Mac. Well you can't do it unless you stick to Sony's software which is limited for video editing.