Introduction

As an employee at a University campus which is predominantly Mac based I believed it important to mention the issue of cross compatibility, firstly networking wise and also even file and binary compatibility (which personally regard as dangerous for the Mac - more of this later) Essentially speaking there are two level of compatibility the ability for a Mac to run windows software through either hardware or software or an ability to use files from a Mac on a PC and visa versa. I will also be discussing strategies for converting you Mac based office into a PC based system either in section or wholly.

PC stuff on a Mac - Hardware Emulation / Compatibility

Hardware compatibility simply means that the Mac in question has an actual Intel or Intel compatible processor inside your Mac box, this level of being able to run PC software is the only one which really works. it too has its disadvantages....

1) It is always a compromise - you buy less of a Mac and less of PC. The same money spent purely on either platform will buy you a better machine either way.

2) make sure that software or hardware you need to use has no need for either additional hardware or the parallel port (neither of which exist or can be added on the Mac Card - in this the Amiga bridge board was a better solution as it had PC slots also....

PC stuff on a Mac - Software Emulation / Compatibility

Running Windows through software emulation is a waste of time and money - it took a 486 DX-2 66Mhz processor to emulate a 1Mhz C= 64 get the drift??? You will be poorer and pissed off. The product is published and created by Insignia Solutions so feel free to check out their website for more info but don't say I didn't warn you.....(Rather telling is the fact that they run their web site of an NT box)

Update

A few more software emulation package have come out for the Mac since the last revision of this section - more powerful Macs exist so that emulation gets faster - of course there are now also much faster PC's When this section was written PC's maxed out on the Pentium Pro @ 180Mhz now we are talking Pentium II's @ 300 Mhz. :-) In particular a new product called Virtual PC from Connectix looks promising even if the Mac's survival still doesn't.

 Do It All with Connectix Virtual PC™! - Compatibility

Don’t take our word for it, see the outstanding Reviews!

Connectix Virtual PC is a complete standards-based Pentium MMX PC in software using standards-based components, such as Sound Blaster Pro and S3 Video. Install and run the PC software you want - right out of the box. Virtual PC is currently available only in English (click here for more international info), but it is capable of running the full range of operating systems regardless of which language they are in, French, Chinese, German, Japanese, etc. etc. (other OS's not included, they can be installed into Virtual PC as you would any PC machine):

DOS -Windows NT - Windows 3.x - NeXT OPENSTEP - Windows 95 - IBM OS/2

You'll have the capability to run multiple operating systems!

“Apple should include it, for free, on every Mac it sells.”

Wall Street Journal, July 17, 1997

Read the Virtual PC FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Download the Virtual PC Data Sheet (.pdf format)

Value

Connectix Virtual PC has always been priced as an excellent value for Mac users. Virtual PC comes with a complete version of Microsoft Windows (95 or 3.11) and is affordable for both consumers and corporations.

With an expected street price of $150 (US), you get:

Virtual PC CD ROM and Manual

Microsoft Windows 95 or 3.11 and Manual

Aladdin Stuffit Expander for Mac and Windows

Affordable value, and competitive upgrade rebate!

How to buy Virtual PC
$25 Competitive Upgrade Rebate Details for SoftWindows(tm) (.pdf format)

Functionality

Connectix Virtual PC recognizes your existing Mac peripherals as PC devices, so PC software runs with functionality:

Internet Ready
Modem
Ethernet Networking
CD-ROM
Printing
Share Mac folders and PC drives
Sound Blaster Pro Support

It recognizes your Mac peripherals as PC devices!
Again, don't take our word for it, see the outstanding Reviews!

Performance

Connectix Virtual PC delivers playable performance for games and usable performance for productivity applications on current Mac configurations. System Requirements:

I still personally think that you are pushing shit uphill - but hey if you have a powerful Mac its heaps cheaper than buying any king of PC..

PC stuff on a Mac- Being able to make sense of Documents

Macs as the Mac people love to tell us are able to read Mac disks - this however is rather meaningless unless you can make sense of the documents that are on that disk. Many common file formats go OK others not at all. Please keep in mind that Macs cannot make sense of Windows 95 Extended file names any more that windows 3.11 apps can. If you need to retain the long file names up 35 Mac Characters the use Mac-Opener (by Dataviz) or some other Mac disk reading tool on the PC.

There is no difference to being able to read documents between PC's the rules are the same, same programme no trouble, different programme trouble. If Word 6 on the PC and Word 6/7 on Windows 95 is used you should not have any hassles. Try using ClarisWorks and Word and....hmmm

Mac stuff on a PC - Hardware Emulation / Compatibility

Does NOT exist - may well exist soon although there isn't (more importantly) an Amiga emulator either.

Mac stuff on a PC - Software Emulation / Compatibility

There is a programme available on the PC called Executor and does for Intel machines what Softwindows does for Macs - it is cheaper and once again works only sort of... Speed wise though it does a far better job than Softwindows - but it should perhaps be called a Mac Application Emulator - it runs individual applications but not the Mac OS - I know that sounds strange but its true.

Take a look at Ardi's home page on www.ardi.com and download the demo version

Or for a rather scathing review check out Macworld

Mac stuff on a PC - Being able to make sense of Documents

PC's the Mac people will tell you, cannot read Mac disks out of the box, nor can they read C= 64 disks and as a whole no one cares.... but for those who need it I cannot go past a product by the name of Mac-Opener by Dataviz it opens all Mac formatted media, Floppies, CD's, and Removable magnetic media such as Syquest cartridges and Zip disks - you naturally enough need the drive! (Duh!)

Mac stuff on a PC - Archives

You can grab yourself a copy of Alladin Systems Stuffit expander for Windows - It will cope with most Mac type format archive files and in particular *.sit files.

Networking issues

One must I guest first describe what you are trying to do so lets break it up into several main issues.

Connecting a Mac to a PC Network (This is Windows FAQ I'll try to find a link for you)

Connecting a PC to a Mac Network.

It is the second of these issues which this section of the FAQ will endeavor to answer - in the follow up section making the transition from Mac to PC network I will be discussing Client Server issues this is just a one on one, you Joe Blow trying to get you Windows 95 PC running of a Mac Network.... (and lot of support you will get from Macheads too....)

Connecting a PC to a Mac Network.

Let's get a few things straight - Windows 95 DOES NOT connect to a Mac network out of the box AT ALL!! Assuming you a running an ethernet network straight into a unix backbone (i.e. not through a evil Mac based proxy thing like we do at work your internet should work fine and no different to normal.... You will need a third party product to see anything on the Mac network.... MacLan for Windows 95 is the best (well and ONLY) product that will satisfy your requirements.... It's rather expensive though... As far a products go I think it's a winner however... It's rather funny as it still does some things through Dos though it claims to be a true Windows 95 product - it integrates really well into the explorer and as a whole I have nothing but praise for it - One word of advise ensure that you network card and setting are function by testing it through TCP/IP by pinging something. ( I didn't and it caused me to scream loudly and unfairly at MacLan)

I will just cut and paste their stuff into this FAQ as I think they deserve it...

MacLan95 From Miramar Systems

One Powerful Networking Resource PC MACLAN for Windows 95 is the only software product for peer-to-peer networking between Windows 95 and Mac OS. Its 32-bit AppleShare client and server technology allows users to share files, printers, drives and other resources bi-directionally.

How PC MACLAN Works PC MACLAN installs AppleShare client and server functionality on the Windows 95 machine, giving the PC and Mac user unmatched cross-platform print and file sharing capabilities.

As a File and Print Client...

Windows 95 PCs simply view and access Macintosh directories, hard or floppy drives, AppleTalk printers and other network resources by choosing the appropriate icons in the Network Neighborhood browser. (PC MACLAN also lets PCs read Mac files in their original long file name format BUT Macs cannot cope with Win95 255 char filenames Ed).

As a File and Print Server...

PCs share their files, drives, disks (including CD-ROM) and PostScript and non-PostScript printers with Macs through the familiar Macintosh Chooser interface.

The Networking Solution

PC MACLAN for Windows 95 supports: LocalTalk, Ethernet and TokenRing topologies; most existing LAN software; numerous software applications; and adheres to NDIS 3.1 and ODI adapter board specifications.

Redefine Your Environment

By combining the benefits of Windows 95 and MAC OS into one powerful networking resource, PC MACLAN lets you redefine your environment and...

MAKE YOUR OWN RULES

Product Highlights

Full Windows 95 Integration AppleShare client functions make use of Network Neighborhood, long file names, property pages and other familiar Windows 95 utilities when accessing or printing to printers or other network resources.

Increases Print Capabilities Imagesetters, RIPs, high-end LaserWriters and other printers can be shared by PCs and Macs alike. Macs can print to PC-based PostScript printers, and non-PostScript printers with the appropriate printer drivers installed. PCs can print to PostScript and non-PostScript printers as well as on the AppleTalk network. Print log and print status features provide valuable print job tracking and status information.

Increases Network Capabilities Windows 95 and Macintosh operating systems become one powerful resource, performing such tasks as sharing PC-based CD-ROM files with a network of Macs; sharing e-mail messages with a host of users cross-platform; and sending enormously sized PC files directly to a PostScript printer without spooling.

Low-cost Network Solution Workgroups, small offices and home businesses can operate as efficiently as an enterprise without the need for network administrators. Share expensive printers and eliminate duplicate hardware such as CD-ROM and tape back-up drives.

Easy Installation and Use Windows 95 users cannot make an error with this simple one-step install. No software is required for the Macintosh.

PC MACLAN for Windows 95 Components

The PC MACLAN program allows a computer running Windows 95 to function as an AppleTalk client, an AppleShare file server and an AppleShare print server within a Macintosh environment. In addition, PC MACLAN print services take advantage of advanced AppleTalk printer features.

PC MACLAN Client

The client portion of PC MACLAN allows your Windows 95 computer to copy files to and from an AppleTalk File Server where your Windows 95 computer is the client and the Macintosh computer is the file server. It also allows you to print to AppleTalk printers on the network.

The client portion of PC MACLAN, which uses Network Neighborhood for setup, is integrated completely with the built-in networking of Windows 95. Therefore, there are no program items for the PC MACLAN client included in the PC MACLAN Program Group created by the installer program.

When you install the client portion of PC MACLAN, the program item AppleTalk Messenger appears in your StartUp Program Group. AppleTalk Messenger allows the AppleTalk file server to send messages to your Windows 95 PC. For example, if the AppleTalk file server is about to shutdown, a message telling you how many minutes you have until shutdown displays on your PC.

PC MACLAN File Server

The file server portion of the PC MACLAN program allows the Windows 95 PC to emulate an AppleTalk File Server. As a result, you can share files with one or more Macintosh computers on a network via a shared directory, hard drive, floppy drive or other attached media. The file server portion of PC MACLAN is configured using the PC MACLAN Console that is presented during the PC MACLAN installation.

PC MACLAN Print Server

The print server portion of the PC MACLAN program turns the Windows 95 PC into an AppleTalk Print Server. As a result, you can share printers connected to your Windows 95 PC with one or more Macintosh computers. The print server portion of PC MACLAN is configured using the PC MACLAN Print Server window that is presented during the PC MACLAN installation.

This From Ziff Davis Publishing

VOLUME 11 ISSUE 12

Three packages connect Mac OS to Windows 95

COPSTalk offers reliability; PC MacLAN is versatile, error-prone; DAVE is fast but picky.

By Carolyn Bickford

For exchanging files between Windows 95-based PCs and Macs, you have three choices: the conservative, reliable $159 COPSTalk 2.1 from COPS Inc.; the ambitious but stumbling $199 PC MacLAN 6.0 from Miramar Systems Inc.; and the fast but difficult-to-configure $179 newcomer DAVE for the Macintosh 1.0 from Thursby Software Systems Inc. Both COPSTalk and PC MacLAN are installed on Windows 95; DAVE runs on the Mac OS.

We reviewed each product on a multiprotocol TCP/IP and AppleTalk network with a 180-MHz Pentium-based PC running Windows 95, equipped with an EtherEZ networking card from Standard Microsystems Corp.; seven Macs; an Apple LaserWriter Select; and a DeskJet 870Cse inkjet printer from Hewlett-Packard Co. For its stability, COPSTalk came out on top, with DAVE as a compelling complement to it if you want to have access running in both directions. PC MacLAN has the advantage of working in both directions by itself, but we experienced several problems when mounting Mac volumes on an Intel-standard PC.

The COPSTalk calypso
COPSTalk's installation procedure is not only easy, it's fun. The installer plays calypso music in the background while it works. Once installed, its administration is completely PC-centric. You can mount Macintosh volumes on the Windows 95 desktop only, which means you can do cross-platform file transfers only from your Windows 95 machine. You can also add any PostScript-compatible printer connected to a Mac as a network printer in your Printers control panel.

COPSTalk is the most reliable program of the three for transferring files. It successfully transferred all files between Macs and Windows 95-based PCs - successfully dealing with nested folders, long Mac file names and illegal Windows characters such as "/". It comes with a separate utility that, among other functions, lets you map Windows file name extensions to the Mac's Creator code, so they're easier to open once on the Mac. Speedwise, it doesn't break any records. Copying an 8.5-Mbyte file from the Windows 95 computer to a Power Mac took about one and a half minutes.

COPSTalk 2.1 Product Information

We are proud to announce COPSTalk v2.1 single user version is now available for online purchase via a secure commerce server. Click here to buy now. If you would like to evaluate the software first, download now and try COPSTalk out for 10 days at no cost!

Need more than one? Check out our prices and then contact our sales department about buying a new version or upgrading your old versions. See the specifications below.

Product SKU# Price
COPSTalk 2.1 Part# 20501 US$159
COPSTalk 2.1 5 Pack Part# 20505 US$629.95
COPSTalk 2.1 10 Pack Part# 20510 US$949.95

Existing COPS and Farallon Customers have special pricing! Serial number or proof of purchase required. Call 770-840-0810 or contact the sales department via email to place your order

COPSTalk 2.1 TECHNICAL SPECS

COPSTalk is a suite of apps and utilities designed to connect Wintel computers to AppleTalk networks. COPSTalk 2.1 is expressly designed for Windows 95.

Most LocalTalk and EtherTalk cards are supported. COPSTalk 2.0 uses a full 32-Bit VXD and you use the Windows 95 Explorer to connect to servers and printers. NT version under development.

UPGRADES

Upgrades from previous COPSTalk versions are available. Farallon & Apple PC AppleTalk users can upgrade to COPSTalk for a special price. Call for details regarding our upgrade programs.

SUPPORT

30 days free support included. 60 days money-back guarantee. While you're online, check the latest technical information on COPSTalk 2.0.

FEATURES
  • Full Windows 95 Support
  • Use Network Explorer for selecting AppleTalk services
  • 32-bit VXD
  • AppleShare Client
  • AppleShare long name support
  • Automatically detect & change illegal file names
  • Error reporting
  • Support for PostScript printers and AppleTalk Imagewriters
  • QuikPick selection of printers
  • Rename Printer
  • Set Printer Zone
  • Download PostScript files
  • PostScript Utilities
  • Bi-directional communication during printing
  • AppleTalk network utilities

COPS is Farallon Computing's official upgrade partner for Windows 95 and other versions of Windows. Competitive upgrades are available for users of Apple, DayStar, Dayna, Miramar, TOPS/Sitka and Tangent PC AppleTalk products. COPSTalk is recommended by EFI for their Fiery customers including Xerox, Canon, Kodak, Minolta and others. COPSTalk and other COPS products are available from DTP Direct, MacZone, PrePress Direct, your local dealer or directly from COPS.

Version 1.3

Not using Windows 95? No Problem! If you are using older versions of Windows (3.1, 3.11, WFW) or DOS, COPSTalk 1.3 is for you. A 16-bit version that provides a chooser, advanced spooling, PostScript utilities, wildcard printing and a Long-Name browser.

The PC MacLAN gamble
PC MacLAN's installation procedure is similar to COPSTalk's (sans calypso) but it performs more automatic configuration than does COPSTalk. PC MacLAN doesn't transfer files any faster than COPS' product, but it is more ambitious. Besides letting you mount Mac volumes on your PC, it also lets you mount Windows 95 volumes on the Mac via the Chooser. It also includes components that let you print to non-PostScript printers such as inkjets and ImageWriters. Printing through PC MacLAN was trouble-free, as was mounting Windows 95 volumes on the Mac and transferring files between the two platforms.

But seen through Windows 95, PC MacLAN was distressingly temperamental. Within the PC's Network Neighborhood window, it frequently duplicated Mac volumes as if they were both local and remote, and at one point brought up a scattershot selection of duplicated volumes and unnamed volumes. Despite extensive reconfiguring, we were unable to decisively resolve the problem. PC MacLAN also had trouble preserving path names that contained non-Windows characters. For example, when we copied files in a folder named El Capitan from the Mac to the PC, PC MacLAN transferred only the folder, not its contents. Like COPSTalk, PC MacLAN includes a utility that lets you map file name extensions to Mac Creator codes.

Difficult DAVE
Newcomer DAVE runs on the Mac OS, not on Windows 95, and this set of four extensions takes advantage of features already built into the two systems to transfer files via TCP/IP. Unfortunately, the manual is unclear about which networking components you need to install on the Windows 95 PC (the Client for Microsoft Networks and Printing for Microsoft Networks) and on the Mac (System 7.5 or later, an Internet Protocol address and a connection to your TCP/IP network via Open Transport or MacTCP). Configuring DAVE was also a confusing process, compounded by an unforgiving NetBIOS driver that froze our Power Mac 8500/120 and lost the program's serial number. (Installing NetBIOS 1.0.494a from Thursby's Web site fixed this problem.)

The DAVE Client extension appears as an icon in the Chooser, just like AppleShare. Selecting it presents you with a list of Windows servers you've specifically set up.

In informal tests, DAVE was more than three times as fast at transferring files between the Mac OS and Windows 95 than either PC MacLAN or COPSTalk, and successfully copied files and folders with illegal characters to the Windows 95 machine. It's the only utility that copies Mac files' resource forks to the PC, making it ideal for using a PC as a backup server. DAVE also lets you print Mac files onto PostScript-compatible printers on the Microsoft Network.

On the down side, DAVE relies on the Mac OS' relatively anemic PC Exchange program for mapping PC file name extensions to Mac programs. It works peaceably with either COPSTalk or PC MacLAN, but on multiple-protocol networks it leaves non-TCP/IP computers out in the cold.

Tech support and documentation
COPSTalk lacks a printed manual, but its online manual is informative, and help buttons peppered throughout the program make it easy to access. PC MacLAN's manual is also quite informative, although it had no solutions for the problems we encountered. DAVE's manual, while sizable, was somewhat confusing.

What these programs lack in documentation they make up for in technical support. Questions we sent via e-mail in the evening received accurate answers by 6 a.m. (Pacific time) the next day from both Thursby and COPS. We waited less than 10 minutes on the phone for Miramar's helpful technical support staff.

Conclusions
Cross-platform connectivity is naturally complex enough. Besides battling with networking issues, incompatibilities among different file-naming systems create additional problems. Gideon Greenspan's $20 shareware program, Name Cleaner, does a good job of correcting the latter, while a connection utility that is simple, clear and consistent reduces other irritations.

If you need bidirectional access, PC MacLAN is a decent and economic package, although COPSTalk's consistency and DAVE's speed largely overcome their unidirectional biases.

In the end we're sticking with COPSTalk, despite DAVE's speed and PC MacLAN's appealing support for bidirectional access and non-PostScript printers. COPSTalk offers the most reliable Mac-to-Windows 95 transfers, even if it forces us to do our administration on the PC.

COPS Inc. of Norcross, Ga., can be reached at (770) 840-0810; fax (770) 448-7821; [email protected]; http://www.copstalk.com/.

Miramar Systems Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif., is at (805) 966-2432 or (800) 862-2526; fax (805) 965-1824; [email protected]; http://www.miramarsys.com/.

Thursby Software Systems Inc. of Arlington, Texas, can be reached at (817) 478-5070; fax (817) 561-2313; [email protected]; http://www.thursby.com/.

Copyright © 1997 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company is prohibited. MacWEEK and the MacWEEK logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company.

With this product you should be able to see all Mac machines as connected to the Network and be able to print to Mac postscript printers. I have as yet to get Quickmail to work but I will keep you posted.

Quickmail on Windows 95 with a Mac Server

This product is one of the more commonly used packages on the Mac - The package does come with a Windows 3.11 version of their client in the Quicmail Server Client package but it configured through DOS!!!! What a piece of crap. I will endeavor to solve this problem and get back to you on this one....

Still figuring that one out.

Specific Mac Dos Compatible issues

1) The Mac refuses to eject media in Windows or Dos.

Try switching back to the Mac side if it refuses you guessed it the Mac has crashed in the background while the windows Machine has kept running. Because the Mac controls all access to you media you MUST reboot boot if this happens very often see you Mac consultant.

2) When I try to install Windows 95 on my Performa 5200 it says 'too many file in the root directory'

The nice people at Cupertino have decided to make you experiences with Windows 95 as difficult as possible - Macs are easier to use! (repeat this to yourself - often). Because the Mac emulates the PC-Hard drive in one big file if this file is write protected then well Windows 95 cannot install. find the Drive container and use Get Info to unprotect the drive file... Why didn't Apple install Windows 95 - well that would be too easy now wouldn't it?

3) How can I use a Mac printer from Windows??

In order to use a Mac printer from within Windows using a Dos compatible Mac you must use the Epson LQ 2050 printer driver that is included with Windows 95. A paralell port on a DOS card would be useful as at least you would be able to use a PC printer but alas that was not to be.

Disclaimer

This article and web site listing is provided without any express or implied warranties. While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this article, the author, faq maintainers and contributors assume no responsibility for errors or ommissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information herin. This document respects all owners of their repected trademarks and or copyrights, Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT are the sole copyright of Microsoft Corporation and thus belongs to Bill.

Copyright Notice ©

Windows95 (Win95-L) FAQ COPYRIGHT © 1998 by Hans Klarenbeek

All Rights Reserved by the author, Hans Klarenbeek

Windows95 (Win95-L) FAQ © 1998 PERMISSION:

Permission is granted freely to distribute this article in electronic form as long as it is posted in its entirety including this copyright statement. This article may not be distributed for financial gain. This article may not be included in any commerical collections or compilations without the express permision of the author, Hans Klarenbeek([email protected])