[thelist] pc/ mac and mac/ pc transfer?

[martin burns]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

At 03:39 03/10/00, A. Erickson wrote:
>Can anyone recommend some software to help ease the pain in transfering pc
>files to mac and vice-versa?
>
>I know that Macs are supposed to be easier in terms of reading pc files but
>I'm having trouble there with Flash files and with *any* Mac file on a PC.
>I'm living the dual OS existence so any advice would be wonderful!

There are 2 problems here:
1) Media
2) File-types/extensions

Macs don't use the Windows schema of associating file extensions
with applications - they bury that info within the file (along with icons,
previews etc). So you'll only be able to double click and auto-open
files on a Mac with that data in place. I have a fantastic Contextual
Menu Module (right-click-like popup menu doodad) which allows me
to change this data - great for swapping files between raw text,
DW and BBEdit files.

That said, Mac applications will open any appropriate file from the
'Open' command - the official file type doesn't matter - as long as
you're not opening sound files in text editors and so on.

Now as far as Media goes, Macs will read from and write too any
PC/DOS formatted disk. They'll stick a couple of extra folders in
to hold stuff like the Trash, but the files will be fine. PCs on the
other hand are like Monoglot English speakers - all foreigners
have to speak in their language. So use PC disks (or hey, a
network or email) to transfer between the 2 platforms.

Because of Windows' deep-seated need to have file extensions
to tell it which type of file it's dealing with (try installing InterDev
& PhotoShop on the same machine - both use and claim .asp),
you'll need to name files saved on your Mac appropriately, otherwise
Windows will do its headless chicken impression.

Summary:
Files saved on PC & transferred to Macs: No problems
Files saved on Macs & transferred to PCs: No problems once you've
         taken care of a few admin details.

Cheers
Martin


________________
Martin Burns, Content Management Consultant
tel: +44 (0)778 068 6418
http://evolt.org/index.cfm?menu=9&uid=32
http://www.easyweb.co.uk/
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGPfreeware 6.5.3 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com>
Comment: PGP Key ID: 0xA835CCCB

iQA/AwUBOdl4RXHoHnCoNczLEQIgigCeNMHVi1MvaKzLHP4KzZrbfMq0za0An3Fv
3KVc3IQXiA3/JN8AdsIInjNu
=KsQw
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----