Apples, PC's and Networks question

[Obiwan]

Is it possible for Macs and PC's to exist on the same network, and share files with each other?

I ask cuz my sister has a 3 pc network with a Netgear DG814 hub at the heart. She is aquiring the 'new' mac G5 in the next few months from her boyfriend. (aww how cute!). Anyway she is wondering if it can be connected to the same network or would it act as a lone computer.

Thanks for any help.

[SkyDog]

Yes, it's possible.

Mac OS X 10.1 and newer can connect to SMB shares. SMB is Windows' default file & print sharing protocol. On the Mac, click the Go menu and select "Connect to Server". In the Address window, type smb://computername/sharename where "computername" is the name of the Windows computer you want to connect to and "sharename" is the name of the shared folder. Depending on how security is configured on the Windows box, you may be prompted for a username and password. If you enter a valid username and password to access the Windows file share, an icon will be placed on the Mac desktop to access the share. HERE is a page with screen shots if you want to take a look. Just scroll down to the section titled, "Connecting to a Windows file server via SMB".

It's a little trickier with older versions of Mac OS, but since you can't install 'em on a G5, you've got nothing to worry about. There are also third-party programs like Thursby Software's DAVE to improve network functionality between Macs and Windows PC's.

[Rival30]

Hey SkyDog, welcome to the forums. Congrats on the moderator job! Good to see someone here has some good Mac background knowledge. Especially OS X!. I'm a Mac tech myself, but I prefer to do my gaming on PC's for obvious reasons
PM me if you wanna talk Mac sometime...

Oh and Obiwan, that might be changing slightly for OS 10.3 (which will most likely ship with or right after the new G5's, but the principle stuff is still the same. There are plenty of resources on the web for step by step set up of file sharing between OS X and Windows. Check www.macwindows.com

[SkyDog]

Thanks for the welcome, but I've been lurking around a while -- going on three years, actually.

[Rival30]

you know what I saw your post count after I submitted that, thought about editing it, and then said to myself "nah he knows I have good intentions..."

Either way I'm fairly new but congrats on the mod job.