Compatibility between Mac OS X and Windows XP on a network..

U

uncle_john

Registered
Now I currently only have a PC :mad:, but I have been thinking of purchasing an iBook someday in the future, and I wanted to know if Windows XP Professional alone without running a .NET or 2000 server could actually network and fully operate with Mac OS X. I also wanted to know if there would be any problems connecting to routers.

Thanx
 
You really should have no problems at all. You can connect the two computers via Samba and Mac OS X will work seamlesly with any router.:)
 
I have two NT 4 servers, one 2000 server, two XP machines an iBook and a PowerBook running OS X, no issues with my networking or wireless and wired routers. I find DAVE 3.1 for Mac OS adds even more NetBIOS compatibilty to the OS X for cross-platform networking as well.

Finch
 
I have a Mac OS X machine and a Windows XP machine. What are the steps needed to network them? I can already get them both on the Internet via my network hub and cable modem. However, I want to be able to see the hard drives of both machines in My Computer and in the Finder for file sharing. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
If your new to file sharing I would suggest this, Select the drives or folders you wish to share on the PC. I've had great success with DAVE for the Mac OS 9/X which adds the NetBIOS protocol or you can use PC MacLAN for the PC which adds the AppleTalk protocal to the Windows OS. Both allow for sharing of files folders printers etc.

DAVE 3.1 - Thursby Software www.thursby.com
PC MacLAN - Miramar www.miramar.com
 
On you PC just turn on sharing for those directories you wish to share and that is pretty much it.

From the 'Go' menu in the Finder choose 'Connect to Server' (also Cmd + K) and enter:

smb://ip.of.wintel.box/sharedDirectory

[enter]

enter username and password.

voooo-allll-aaa
 
And don't forget Jaguar promises to make PC connectivity MUCH easier and more robust. Apparently, with no third party software Jaguar will allow full PC connectivity via Samba or whatever AND any PC can see the Mac as well with no third party (Mac will run Samba server? sorry, don't the terms, but bottom line is that PC/Mac connectivity sounds like it's fully resolved in Jaguar).
 
There is only one problem that I have found with sharing and XP that did not exist with NT or 2000. By default the policies for XP professional only allow for guest sharing if the guest account is enbabled, Out of the box you cant do a "connect as" using a local XP account without modifying the group policies. The only exception to this is if the machine was upgraded from 2000.

I cant remember which policy it was from the top of my head but it had something to to with "user access from network". To access the policies in XP simply run mmc and add/ remove snapin from the menu, and add the group policy snapin. When prompted, select local machine

I should note that this problem will also impact connecting useing a local XP account from an NT or 2000 box as wellm and is not limited to MAC OS
 
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