So long as you convert them to a lossless format (Such as AVI) then no quality will be lost. (Just remember that AVI files are big so don’t forget to delete them once your movie is made and saved)

Speed of conversion is determined by the CPU, RAM, HDD speed, and processing of the software (More expensive paid for ones tend to (But not always) convert faster)

Free video editors tend to have less auto features, so more work is involved to do what you want; however as they are free you can’t expect miracles, but at least once you have tried it you will know exactly what you want if you find you need to go for a paid for version.

Make sure you have the latest WMM from the Windows Live Essentials site here

Hope this helps

Bill