PNG or GIF?

I have absolutely no idea where to ask this question, so I've come here for help. I like to make sprites, but I've been saving all of them in the GIF format. It has come to my attention that PNG can also do transparencies and animations, but I can only save my animations in GIF anyway (I use Jasc Animation Shop). If this is all painfully obvious to you guys, I'll just say sorry in advance, but I've just had to learn as I go.

Anyway, I have tested both formats out, but the only difference seems to be file size. Which format is best for saving transparencies? I've tried to read up on the differences, but every single god damn article is in crazy nerd talk, so it tends to go over my head at times. I hope someone might respond here.

>>22
SVG can be embedded in any XML document (eg XHTML). For external references, object is actually a much better element than img, because it allows fallback. So you have an object element reference an SVG file, and a nested object reference a PNG file, and a nested object inside that with just text, and the browser will pick the first one it supports. Although IE probably doesn't support it at all (but that only matters if you want idiots to use your websight).