Network your home PC and Mac - An OverviewYes, you can network your home PC and your Mac. And it's really not that difficult. This series of "how to's" will explore the two viable ways for home PC users to network the two platforms. In Part I, we discuss one of those two ways...namely using software on your PC to allow it to network with a Mac using primarily Mac networking protocols and techniques. We also cover the Mac hardware set up in Part I. In Part II, we cover the other method...namely using software on your Mac to allow it to network with your PCs primarily using PC protocols and techniques. Since the hardware setup will be the same, we won't bother covering it again. (For information on setting up your PC simply see our Ethernet How To.) But first, a little background and history. We have been networking PCs and Macs in our home since 1988. Over the years, the technologies have changed. Macs have become a lot more "PC friendly" and, as many of you know, a few years ago PCs finally caught up to Macs in the ease of networking and the integration of networking into the operating system. Back in 1988, the only real option for networking PCs and Macs was to equip your PC with the hardware and software necessary to use the AppleTalk protocol to let your PCs join the Mac/Apple network. We used AppleTalk cards from Dayna and TOPS software which, at least at one point, was a Sun product. Now, with the last 5+ years advances in PCs, there is really no need to use AppleTalk cards and you would probably be hard pressed to find one. So, our recommendation is to use software on your PC to allow it to network essentially as if it was a Mac (and we'll cover that in Part I) OR to use software on your Mac to allow it to network essentially as if it was a PC (Part II). Once your read both Part I and Part II, you'll probably have a much better idea which is right for your set up. It might seem obvious to use PC software if you are using (or planning to use) more than one Mac on your network. Conversely, it might seem to make sense to use software on your Mac if you have or plan to use more than one PC on your network. We'll reserve that decision for you to make, but recommend you thoroughly read both parts of our "how to" since these will be much like reviews of the two products used to network Macs and PCs. Still interested? Let's move on to Part I or Part II.
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