Integrate Macs Into Your Business

Fitting Into a Windows Office

Since its release in 2000, Mac OS X has contained, in each iteration, improvements in support for multiplatform environments, and Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) is no exception--theoretically. Unfortunately, although Mac OS X 10.4 (aka Tiger) allowed for seamless share-point establishment, printing, Web-resource sharing, and other networking functions in a Windows-centric environment, Leopard has had a rocky couple of months since its late-October introduction.

Though the interface for multiplatform sharing is greatly improved in Leopard, several bugs in share-point access have frustrated many users. Apple is busy hammering away at the problems, and version 10.5.1 squashed some bugs, but harried network administrators worldwide are waiting impatiently for 10.5.2. A good place to keep up with the ongoing saga is at MacWindows.com; fixes may very well be available by the time you read this.

NAS support, on the other hand, is solid, with one notable exception. Macs can read and write from and to FAT32 drives with no problems--as long, of course, as the drive partition is 32GB or less. With larger partitions--those using NTFS--Macs can read files but not write them. You have an inexpensive solution, though: Paragon NTFS for Mac OS X 6.0 ($30) from Paragon Software group.

If your office uses an Exchange server, you'll be happy to hear that Microsoft is reportedly including a raft of Exchange-related improvements in its Office 2008 for Mac. Enhancements include an Out of Office Assistant, Kerberos-based single-sign-on authentication, and managed folders that support Exchange 2007 document-retention policies. Shared calendaring is, at last, up to speed with that of Windows versions, with more-straightforward calendar management, better conflict announcements, and improved resource-booking interaction with Exchange 2007.

Finally, printing in a multiplatform environment is rarely an issue with Macs, since Mac OS X ships with over 3GB of printer drivers from Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Gutenprint, Lexmark, Ricoh, Samsung, and Xerox (including Fuji Xerox)--odds are, your printers are covered. If they're not, you can easily remedy the situation with CUPS (Common Unix Printing Solution), available for free. Based on the IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) standard, CUPS enables print-job management, queues, network-printer browsing, and PPD-based printing options. It may not be elegant, but it works.

So feel free to introduce a few Macs to your Windows PCs. Many people have lived and worked in multiplatform environments for decades, and have learned to appreciate the strengths of both the Mac and the PC--and their businesses have become more successful as a result. This is the age of diversity, right?

Rik Myslewski has been writing about the Mac since 1989. He has been editor in chief of MacAddict (now MacLife), executive editor of MacUser and director of MacUser Labs, and executive producer of Macworld Live.