well it's a fair point, it is explained in the manual...

anyways the difference is one is an ascii file and can be edited in notepad etc, the other is binary and can't be. Binaries are smaller in file size and load quicker and for most people probably the bets option. The good thing about ma files (and why at work we exclusivley use them) is that you can open them up and hack them if they become corrupt etc so you can save what you were doing. Doesn't happen often but it has been known to happen.


A