What is the difference between iMovie HD version 6, and iMovie ’11 version 9?

I have every version of iMovie from iMovie 2 to the current version. By far, my favorite version is iMovie HD 06. iMovie HD 06 is the most similar movie editor to what is used in Hollywood. The timeline is very "film like".

There is a reduction in quality of the image between iMovie HD 06 and iMovie 08 through 13. The difference is the single field processing used by iMovie 08+ (for faster editing) and the fact that it throws out every other horizontal line.

Final Cut Express and Adobe Premiere Elements will give full quality but are more complicated to use.

In my opinion iMovie HD 06 with iDVD 09 or iDVD 11 is way to go.

Certain "workarounds" are required to use iMovie HD 06 after Mavericks. It can be used with Yosemite, but workarounds must be utilized. For this reason, many people keep a separate partition or hard drive with an older version of the Mac OS for their movie editing purposes.

... just to give the 'other' side a voice:

iM06 = best dv-editor ever

iDVD = best disk-maker ever

... but of lil' use for HD content: both apps do not support the actual resolutions/frame rates/formats, in use in nowadays camcorders, action cams, vDSLR, mobile phones, ...

Apple stopped development of iDVD eight years ago. In dog-years that is... long time ago.

(if I remember correctly; iDVD11 had a few more templates than 07, nice eye-candy with moving elements + dropzones)

And the underlying technique (Quicktime/Quartz) is in transition for about two years - it's a matter of days months a year, and iMovie-a and iDVD will run only on - very - old Macs....

iM-b (08/09/11/10) offer effects, iM-a couldn't or just with additional $$ plug-ins (PiP, green sceen, color correction, white balancing, Ken Burns, ....)

iM-a was part of iLife… iM-b is part of the 'wireless' Apple-ecosphere, iCloud, AppleTV, iPhone, Watch… when you publish your movie via iMovie-theatre, you dont need no disk. And you get a significant, dramatically better quality on your telly....

summary:

old formats better done on old systems.

new formats, disk-less distribution, multiformat delivery = actual systems.

... yet you can use both; ... 😉

new formats, disk-less distribution

I use Toast 12 to make 1080p Blu-ray disk movies. And this: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MR3F8BDSD16/

I prefer optical media. One can share and lend movies easily. No passwords, account set up, authentications, or approvals, are required just put in the disc and it plays. Moreover, if you don't like a particular movie you can sell it for close to the original price.

If you buy a movie on iTunes, and hate it, 100% of your money is gone forever. I sell the movies I don't like.

If you have the original iMovie HD6 and a computer it will work on, if you can, try to hang on to both of them. Ditto iMovie '11.

There are some older model camcorders that can make use of the HD6 version, like the JVC GZ-HD7 because it uses *.tod files and can be imported directly into HD6. The HD7 had 1920 x 1080 capability (hi-def) but I mostly used 1440CBR.

Also, iDVD had a menu where one can have something like 5 or 6 videos on one DVD disk provided there is still room on the disk.

I still have my MacBook White (MBW) which was sold on the very first day it came out in 2006 and I'm still using it for some of the legacy applications and as I write this I may be using it for the maps and globe capability in iMovie. My newer MBP (late 2008) and MBP (mid 2012) both have Yosemite on them and the currently new iMovie 10.0.8 which I'm trying to figure out how to do maps and the globe with. I may have to boot up the MBW to do the map and/or globe section for my Project.

I'm currently using FCP X and Motion 5, hence the i7 2012 MBP (video only) machine. Also using a 2006 Mac Pro for video only. The nice part about the 2008 to 2012 MacBoo Pro's is you can still change the battery, memory, and drives yourself. The newer machines have everything soldered. The 2006 MBP had a graphics board issue and they are notorious for this. Apple will not stand behind their defective design so if you ever get one beside to do the research about problems.

Made the transition from the PC to the Mac years ago and got, I think it was, Office 200 for the Mac so I could use Word and Excel. Still using it on the MBW and have Pages on my newer MBPs. Unfortunately, Pages has difficulty importing some of the old Word files and won't import others. Hence, keeping the MBW for those documents. That old 2006 MBW was a nice machine. Heavy compared to the MacBook Air but what the hey. There are a lot of complaints with the newer Pages, too. Apple is dumbing everything down so they can work on the iPhone, so if they want to do that, why bother buying a new computer???

If there is no rush making the change, why not take it easy.

Edit: Burning to a DVD: doesn't require paying a subscription to use a service, and like Ziatron said, with the cloud service, "100% of your money is gone forever."

By the way, DVD is a better material for archiving than Blu-ray. I have Toast for burning Blu-ray disks too, which I do, but again, do the research. DVD disks come in varying qualities so to have something that will last, get quality disks and burn at the slowest rate that the burner will allow.

I agree with Ziotron. I haver also stayed with iMovie 6.

To burn a DVD with iDVD from the latest version of iMovie, you have to export the movie using the Export button and select 480p as the size. Open iDVD and start a new project, then drag that exported movie file into the iDVD menu window, avoiding any drop zones you see.

With regard to this part ...

I Think that from what everyone is saying that I am best sticking with the old software and indeed the old computers.

My approach is slightly different. I'm saving my old MacBook White (MBW) for the legacy applications, like iMovie 6, iDVD, and even Microsoft (sorry!) Office 2000 (yes, it's 15 years old now). I made the transition from the PC way back then. Had an iMac then went to the iBook (still have), etc., so a lot of transitioning. Okay, so basically, the MBW has been the one that is holding the legacy files. Most everything that could be moved over to the MacBook Pro (MBP) mid 2008 have been moved. The MBP is my Internet computer and I only use the MBW as a legacy container.

The important thing is to protect your privacy and your files. Even with backups, the files need to be virus-free so you don't want them to get contaminated. The MBW is running on the last version of OS X that it can run and cannot be updated any more. Read: NO MORE VIRUS PROTECTION!

Since none of the MBW applications can be updated it's Wi-Fi is turned off and if files need to be moved a thumb drive is used. Pages, v5.5.3, the Apple version of Word, does not recognize some of the 2000 Word documents so the MBW is good for that. [Warning: Editorial comment ahead] This newer version of Pages has a LOT of very bad review comments because it has been really dumbed-down from the earlier version. Apple seems to be trying to make it so it can be used on the iPhone, iPad, as well as the computers but the smaller devices apparently can't handle all the details so, hence, we get the idiot version for our computers. Bad Apple!

Migrating so old files can be protected is tough. Protecting old files from corruption and going missing is also tough. CDs and hard drives don't last forever.

What I'd suggest is to maintain good backups of everything. I didn't once years ago and still feel the pain. Get a newer computer that will run on the newest operating system and keep it updated for protection and use it for Internet access then play it safe everywhere else. In today's news (and every few months there's another one like this), "Moose worm targets home routers", just one more warning why one needs to play it safe.

Recommendation: get a newer MB or MBP that will still run the new OS X, if bought used, check the Internet for problems with that model and if satisfied, go via the Apple Genius Bar with the buyer, have the Genius guy troubleshoot it for ownership and any problems, if okay, pay the seller, buy a new hard drive, and take it from there.