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Mac OS & Windows compatibility...

Tweak155

Tweak155

Lifer
A few first questions that come to mind:

1 - How hard is it to get the different os's to recognize each other on the network?

2 - What is a safe statement to say as far as file compatibility? I.E stuff in notepad can be read by Mac... MSPaint drawings... or maybe even more complicated files?

3 - Ultimately, is it feasible to have a home network consisting of Mac OSX and Windows XP / Vista?


Take note: I know NOTHING about Mac OS and I've heard its comparable to Linux but never used that either. So if you could, refer to common Mac apps and what they do so I have an idea. I've clicked a couple times at the store on Mac's but that doesn't give me the ideas I'm looking for.

Thanks.

 
1. easy
2. pictures, documents those kinds of files are fine, but programs are not. IE you can't run Firefox.exe on a mac. But mac does have a compatible version of FF. But there are many many many programs that only work for windows. Mac has a small library of programs compared to windows.
3. yes they work with each other just fine.
 
Just as KeypoX said. I have a MacBook running OS X and a desktop running Vista. When the Vista desktop (used to be XP) is on, I can see its shared files just fine and stream from it. It has issues seeing the Mac at times, still not sure what is up with that.

File compatibility is generally not a problem. A .doc or .txt that you create on one OS will work with a compatible program on the other OS.
 
Is there any stuff you can think of that wouldn't be compatible that you would expect would have been? Trying to figure out any disappointments ahead of time.

I would probably only use the Mac for basic stuff like chat / email / web. I do have games but I generally use my desktop even when I had a windows laptop.

Do linux files work on it?
 
My only problem is that my vista machine does not show up on osx. With my Xp machines, they all show up in finder nice and easy. I can just click on them and i'm in. With vista I have to actually tell finder to connect to server and supply the machine name. Then all is good.
 
Originally posted by: sourceninja
My only problem is that my vista machine does not show up on osx. With my Xp machines, they all show up in finder nice and easy. I can just click on them and i'm in. With vista I have to actually tell finder to connect to server and supply the machine name. Then all is good.
Click to expand...

I'm a start -> run type of guy. I use it for a lot of apps / work.

So if I wanted to connect to a computer on my network, I would do:

Start->run

\\computername or \\ipaddress

Is there anything like this in OSX? Also, I'm guessing \\ipaddress would at least get me into the Mac from windows?
 
Originally posted by: Tweak155
Originally posted by: sourceninja
My only problem is that my vista machine does not show up on osx. With my Xp machines, they all show up in finder nice and easy. I can just click on them and i'm in. With vista I have to actually tell finder to connect to server and supply the machine name. Then all is good.
Click to expand...

I'm a start -> run type of guy. I use it for a lot of apps / work.

So if I wanted to connect to a computer on my network, I would do:

Start->run

\\computername or \\ipaddress

Is there anything like this in OSX? Also, I'm guessing \\ipaddress would at least get me into the Mac from windows?
Click to expand...

In OS X you would, from Finder do Go->Connect to Server... and then type in smb://ipaddress.

Since OS X defaults to connecting to another mac, and that would use AFP, you have to tell it to use SMB. As sourceninja pointed out, XP systems should show up in the sidebar no problem, Vista though sometimes does, usually doesn't.
 
Originally posted by: TheStu
In OS X you would, from Finder do Go->Connect to Server... and then type in smb://ipaddress.

Since OS X defaults to connecting to another mac, and that would use AFP, you have to tell it to use SMB. As sourceninja pointed out, XP systems should show up in the sidebar no problem, Vista though sometimes does, usually doesn't.
Click to expand...

Sorry to sound like a complete idiot but I am when it comes to Mac.

What is "sidebar" and "Finder".

I basically want to figure out what I need to AHEAD of time before getting stuck with a 1300$ paperweight.

EDIT:

I'd like to point out I've tried searching the web for different things...

It seems like most all web pages talk like you already know certain things about OSX or you have it sitting in front of you. I have neither.
 
Is there any stuff you can think of that wouldn't be compatible that you would expect would have been? Trying to figure out any disappointments ahead of time.
Click to expand...

App are all you should have to worry about. Most things have alternatives that are the same or better once you get used to them. If you're tied o something like IE then you're either screwed or have to look into running it via Parallels, VMware, etc.

Do linux files work on it?
Click to expand...

There's no such thing as Linux files or Windows files or Mac files except for the executables and such. Regular data files like word docs, videos, audio files, etc are all the same no matter what OS you're using. And in any OS you need an app to read those files. So for audio files you need something that can read whatever codec you used, i.e. MP3, AAC, FLAC, etc. For video you need something that understands MPEG, xvid, Quicktime, etc.
 
Originally posted by: Tweak155
Originally posted by: TheStu
In OS X you would, from Finder do Go->Connect to Server... and then type in smb://ipaddress.

Since OS X defaults to connecting to another mac, and that would use AFP, you have to tell it to use SMB. As sourceninja pointed out, XP systems should show up in the sidebar no problem, Vista though sometimes does, usually doesn't.
Click to expand...

Sorry to sound like a complete idiot but I am when it comes to Mac.

What is "sidebar" and "Finder".

I basically want to figure out what I need to AHEAD of time before getting stuck with a 1300$ paperweight.

EDIT:

I'd like to point out I've tried searching the web for different things...

It seems like most all web pages talk like you already know certain things about OSX or you have it sitting in front of you. I have neither.
Click to expand...


Well, something that you can do is head on down to your nearest Apple store (assuming there is one near you) and check them out. Take a jump drive with you with a bunch of file types that you use a on a daily basis and see how it handles them.

The most important thing to learning how to transistion is to just jump on in. When I got my macbook I actually tried to keep myself from using Windows at all for a couple of weeks and I find that I can switch between the two very easily. There are a few things that throw me on occasion like the keyboard layouts (specifically the ctrl, alt and special keys [command on a Mac, Windows flag on a PC]) and the trackpads when i am using a laptop.

Beyond that, I don't really have any problems. But definitely try one out before you buy... or if nothing else, see what the return policy is. It somehow involves 14 days, but I have no idea if they charge a restocking fee.
 
Common mac apps for everyday tools (covered somewhere in this site i'm sure) for me are:
Chat -Adium - It handles all the protocals I use, similar to pidgin or trillian (only free)
Web - Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc - Same programs you can find on windows and then some.
Email - Apple's very own mail client, thunderbird, etc .. Again, just like windows only a few more choices.
Office - Microsoft Office 08, Open office 3 (my fav), iWork 08 (best in show imho), abiword and others. Again, just like windows.
Picture editing - Photoshop, gimp, etc - just like windows (only better interface for photoshop imho)
ftp - transport, filezillia, cyberduck, etc (normal everyday ftp tools)
bittorrent - transmission (Trust me, it's the best out there for mac at the moment)
dvd ripping - handbrake (great for taking dvd's and making mp4's out of them)
music - itunes (must better then on windows)
video watching - VLC (greatest player ever!), or quicktime with some codecs installed.
music recording - garageband (comes with your mac and is nice)
video editing - iMovie is nice and again comes with your mac
programing - Xcode is free and nice for making mac apps, textmate is an awesome very advanced editor, you can also use a ton of text editors and even good old eclipse.

I think you can see a pattern here.

What is different? The file system for one. It is a unix file system, this means no drive letters. Everything is part of the file tree. On linux this matters a lot, but on mac it matters very little as apple abstracts this. You have a real terminal with a real shell scripting language (and the wonderful applescript), you have easy access to tons of unix and linux applications without a virtual machine (just compile them for mac or use one of the tools out there to automate this (fink, macports, etc). Better security options (you do not need to run as an admin ever). A sucky system of uninstalling applications (drag to trash or a 3rd party uninstall tool then clean up the crap it left behind), an easy system of installing apps (just grab and drag to apps folder), the ability to mount disk images with just a click, and a bunch of other stuff I'm sure I'm leaving out.

Needless to say I feel osx is the unix desktop for lazy unix admins. I love it.
 
Originally posted by: Nothinman
Is there any stuff you can think of that wouldn't be compatible that you would expect would have been? Trying to figure out any disappointments ahead of time.
Click to expand...

App are all you should have to worry about. Most things have alternatives that are the same or better once you get used to them. If you're tied o something like IE then you're either screwed or have to look into running it via Parallels, VMware, etc.

Do linux files work on it?
Click to expand...

There's no such thing as Linux files or Windows files or Mac files except for the executables and such. Regular data files like word docs, videos, audio files, etc are all the same no matter what OS you're using. And in any OS you need an app to read those files. So for audio files you need something that can read whatever codec you used, i.e. MP3, AAC, FLAC, etc. For video you need something that understands MPEG, xvid, Quicktime, etc.
Click to expand...

I should have specified. I've seen programs that you can install designed for Linux / Windows but didn't see an "OSX" option so tp speak. So they are install files, not random files.

I've checked out the laptops at a local Apple store. They seem nice and lightweight. When I go to use them, though, I'm just kind of lost as to where I would look for things I'd wanna use... I don't even know what I'd wanna use basically.

I'm big on excel, little bit of access here and there, and have a few windows programs I like using. Oh I like Outlook too.

I have Dev C++ for programming.

Other than that, I don't use a whole lot of applications. I don't bittorrent anymore... I like WMP for playing audio and I have VLC for video.

Other than that, I guess I'm open game.
 
Originally posted by: TheStu
Originally posted by: Tweak155
Originally posted by: TheStu
In OS X you would, from Finder do Go->Connect to Server... and then type in smb://ipaddress.

Since OS X defaults to connecting to another mac, and that would use AFP, you have to tell it to use SMB. As sourceninja pointed out, XP systems should show up in the sidebar no problem, Vista though sometimes does, usually doesn't.
Click to expand...

Sorry to sound like a complete idiot but I am when it comes to Mac.

What is "sidebar" and "Finder".

I basically want to figure out what I need to AHEAD of time before getting stuck with a 1300$ paperweight.

EDIT:

I'd like to point out I've tried searching the web for different things...

It seems like most all web pages talk like you already know certain things about OSX or you have it sitting in front of you. I have neither.
Click to expand...


Well, something that you can do is head on down to your nearest Apple store (assuming there is one near you) and check them out. Take a jump drive with you with a bunch of file types that you use a on a daily basis and see how it handles them.

The most important thing to learning how to transistion is to just jump on in. When I got my macbook I actually tried to keep myself from using Windows at all for a couple of weeks and I find that I can switch between the two very easily. There are a few things that throw me on occasion like the keyboard layouts (specifically the ctrl, alt and special keys [command on a Mac, Windows flag on a PC]) and the trackpads when i am using a laptop.

Beyond that, I don't really have any problems. But definitely try one out before you buy... or if nothing else, see what the return policy is. It somehow involves 14 days, but I have no idea if they charge a restocking fee.
Click to expand...

Yeah I've looked. It says if I open it, its 10% charge to return. I get 14 days to return it closed box. Any custom orders, unless DOA, are non-refundable.
 
I'm big on excel, little bit of access here and there, and have a few windows programs I like using. Oh I like Outlook too.
Click to expand...

Well Office for Mac has Excel and Entourage (Outlook), not sure about Access though. If you really wanna use a Mac you'll probably want to use Mail.App though.

I have Dev C++ for programming.
Click to expand...

Not sure if Dev C++ works on OS X but gcc is there and the dev CD has an IDE that I can't remember the name of right now. You might want to look at Eclipse too.
 
Originally posted by: Nothinman
Not sure if Dev C++ works on OS X but gcc is there and the dev CD has an IDE that I can't remember the name of right now.
Click to expand...
XCode. It's not as good as Visual Studio, but I'm of the opinion that it's the second best C++ IDE out there right now.
 
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