WMV → AVI

Yes, and it is a real upgrade over WMV. AVI treats every audio stream as a first-class track, so an original-language mix, a dub and a director commentary can live in one file with the player switching between them on demand. AVI is trivially simple, which is exactly why ancient camcorders, capture cards, DVD ripping tools and Windows-era software all still emit it.

Almost always DRM. Some WMV files are encrypted at the bitstream level by the store or software that issued them, and an encrypted stream cannot be decoded by us or by anything else without the licence key. Files you recorded, exported or downloaded unprotected convert normally; a licensed purchase will not, and no converter can honestly promise otherwise. WMV is effectively a dead end: macOS, iOS, Android and every browser need third-party decoders, and some WMV files carry DRM that cannot be converted at all.

Only if a specific piece of equipment demands the target. Both formats come from the same pre-H.264 era, so neither conversion buys efficiency, quality or future-proofing — it buys compatibility with one particular device. If the goal is to keep the footage usable long-term, convert to a current container instead of sideways. AVI has no native support for modern codecs, variable frame rate, soft subtitles or files over 4 GB without hacks, and its per-chunk overhead bloats the file.

Usually not. Most conversions keep one audio track, the one with the most channels (normally the main mix), re-encoded for the AVI container, so commentary and alternate-language tracks are dropped. AVI, WMV, MPEG, FLV, VOB and M4V to MKV keep every track, and so does MP4 to MOV. To keep a different track, remux the WMV with that track first (VLC or ffmpeg can do this), then convert it. AVI is Microsoft’s Audio Video Interleave, introduced in 1992 on top of the RIFF chunk format — one of the oldest containers still in circulation.

On some pairs. MP4 to MOV keeps every text subtitle track. AVI, WMV, MPEG, FLV, VOB and M4V to MKV keep every subtitle track: text subtitles are copied or converted to SRT, and picture-based subtitles such as DVD or Blu-ray ones are copied as they are. MP4, MOV and WebM to MKV keep only the first subtitle track (as ASS), and MP4 to WebM keeps the first one as WebVTT. Other pairs, including MKV to MP4 or MOV and WebM to MP4, drop subtitle tracks, and the converter does not burn them into the picture. Subtitles that are already burned in stay, because they are part of the video frames.

MKV is the only mainstream container that stores arbitrary attached files (TTF fonts for ASS subs, JPG cover art, fan-translated PDF inserts). Going from WMV to AVI drops these attachments when AVI is not MKV — the elementary streams convert, but the attached payload stays in the source. Keep WMV as a backup if you depend on attached fonts.

It depends on the AVI container. MP4, MOV and MKV output use H.264, which plays on practically every phone, browser and TV. WebM output uses VP9. AVI, WMV and MPEG output use the older codecs those formats were designed for.

There is no HDR processing or tone mapping. When the video stream is copied (MKV to MP4 or MOV with the default settings), HDR10 passes through as it is. When the video is re-encoded, the HDR10 mastering metadata is dropped and Dolby Vision or HDR10+ data is not kept, and with a Quality, Resolution or Frame Rate setting some pairs also reduce the video to 8-bit colour, so an HDR WMV can look washed out in the AVI.

It depends on what happens to the video. MKV to MP4 or MOV with the default settings copies the video stream unchanged, so the size stays close to the source. Most other pairs re-encode it: a high-bitrate WMV usually comes out smaller, while an already heavily compressed one can grow. Smaller File under Quality gives the smallest output, and H.265 in the Codec setting (MP4, MOV and MKV) is usually smaller than H.264 at similar quality but plays on fewer devices.