Windows Movie Maker has nice transitions, and slow-fast-fade etc. effects, if not a very professional work is needed, it'll do. However, not suitalbe for subbing - you can't tell exactly where you want to put the title, and you can't do divided screens either.

I think premiere pro and sony vegas are better for trailers..they're more complex and it takes longer than something like movie maker but the plus is they come out looking better than in movie maker. ^o^/ Hope I helped!

Well I don't do trailers but I edit videos for school projects and stuff... I think for your case you should go with Movie Maker- it's pretty straightforward~
And when you get the hang of that program you can move onto Premiere Elements~
They say Sony Vegas is good too but I haven't tried it O_O

well, i wouldn't use Premier Elements 9 to do trailers, i would consider maybe Window Live Movie Maker. It's really easy and you don't even need a tutorial for it.

I use to be

I haven't made any trailers but I have spent a gruesome 24 hours recently using iMovie to complete my english project and it was horrible, although the movie turned out pretty awesome :D. I just got my mac awhile ago and I had actually never used iMovie before so I pretty much learned on that day LOL. But then again, I do have experience with Windows Movie Maker and that itself is a pretty simple program to use. if you want to take a look at how my english project turned out, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHBsIWH5vr8&;feature=g-upl&context=G2fc6a6aAUAAAAAAAAAA. It's just an example of how something would look if it were done with that program. Honestly, iMovie has a lot of features that can look intimidating at first but once you get the hang of it, it should be a lot easier. Good luck! ^___^