Cross Platform Movies

Hi all, I have a question about inserting movies into PP. I remember reading
in previous threads, that it's dangerous to insert .mov files. When played
on a PC without quicktime, they won't play, correct?

What is the best format to transform these to? The original .MOV is 250MB. I
converted it to AVI using QTPro which cut it down to about 5MB. I take it
that AVI is a solid choice when playing the preso on a PC, correct? The
problem is that the AVI lost some sharpness, and seems to be less quality
than the MOV.

Do you have suggestions for this? Is there a lossless conversion I can make
that will play reliably on a PC that my or may not have QT installed?

Thanks!

-Jeff