Sharing Files with Windows
With the prevalence of Microsoft Windows computers, unless you work and live in a very enlightened Mac-only universe, it’s likely that sooner or later you’ll need to share a file or two with a Windows system.
The file type you choose is fairly straightforward. Microsoft Office formats tend to work fine on both Macs and Windows computers. Any standard graphics formats such as JPEG, GIF, PNG, and TIFF files (along with numerous others) will transfer from one system to another just fine. PDF files are also common among most operating systems. When it comes to audio files, MP3, ACC, and WAV are all just fine (FLAC and a number of other audio formats are equally cross-platform but require third-party software to play them). Video is a bit trickier since video is generally comprised of mixing both audio and video formats. Apple’s QuickTime is the best option for cross-platform video with a few important considerations. First, QuickTime movies created on a Mac must be “flattened” to work on the Web or on a Windows computer. This is done by using the Save As... command in QuickTime Pro or using the Lillipot utility (www.qtbridge.com/lillipot/lillipot.html). Movies exported from iMovie and most other video- editing software will be flattened automatically. Second, QuickTime must be installed for them to play back properly. This isn’t a big issue for most Windows computers, because many com- puter manufacturers include QuickTime by default, and it’s a free and easy install for any Windows computers that don’t already have it. QuickTime, however, isn’t available for Linux or other alternative operating systems. MPEG4 files (which is the default video format for Quick- Time movies these days) work just fine too.
NOTE Windows Media files are popular; however, they pose a number of tricky problems.
First, you will likely need a third-party QuickTime plug-in or stand-alone application to play them on your Mac. Filp4Mac WMV (www.flip4mac.com/) is a third-party QuickTime plug-in that today is endorsed by Microsoft for playing Windows Media files, and VLC Media Player (www.videolan.org/vlc/) is an open source stand-alone media player that supports many for- mats, including WMV. The bigger problem is that at this time neither of these products will support Windows Media protected by DRM (which is quite popular).
NOTE A new QuickTime plug-in called Perian (http://perian.org/) will greatly enhance QuickTime’s abilities to play back a number of media types. QuickTime combined with Flip4Mac and Perian should enable you to play back the majority of video files you find on the Internet with the notable exceptions of RealVideo and protected Windows Media files.
Once you have your file, transferring it from one computer to another is the next trick.
Transferring your file over a network circumvents most file system problems. By enabling Win- dows sharing on your Mac, you can allow a Windows system to simply browse your shared directory and copy the file from your Mac to a Windows computer. Also, your Mac can utilize any Windows file servers or shared directories. If you have .Mac, you can place your file in your public iDisk folder that is accessible from Windows using Apple’s iDisk Utility for Windows (www.mac.com/1/idiskutility_download.html), or you can set up our Public iDisk folder to be acces- sible from the Web. Also, you can use any standard Internet file-sharing protocol. If, rather than using the network, you want to use a physical means of file transfer (such as external hard drive, thumb drive, and so on), then you will likely want to format the drive using the FAT32 file sys- tem, which will work with both Macs and Windows computers.
NOTE Windows computers do not support Apple’s default file system (HFS+) without special third-party software. Additionally, Macs support NTFS (the Windows default file system) as read-only only, which makes it a bit limiting for file sharing. The FAT32 file system, however, is the old Windows default file system and has had good Mac support for many years.
Running Microsoft Windows on Your Mac
Unfortunately, since about 90 percent of the world’s desktops run Microsoft Windows, sometimes you may need to use a Windows-only application or feature (Figure 27-1).
Figure 27-1.Ugggh! World’s best football (aka soccer) team needs better web developers!
More than 10 years ago a highly innovative company called Connectix created a product called Virtual PC that allowed your Mac to run an emulated x86 system as a separate applica- tion. This x86 system allowed Mac users to run Microsoft Windows on their Macs. Although the performance was notably slow, it worked and ushered in the era of emulation on the Mac.
Eventually, Virtual PC was purchased from Connectix by Microsoft (which continues to support Virtual PC but only for Windows hosts).
NOTE Besides Virtual PC, Connectix also invented the QuickCam, which it sold to Logitech.
After selling off QuickCam and Virtual PC (as well as selling its Virtual Play Station product to Sony, which promptly killed it), the company effectively called it quits in 2003. During its 15 years of existence, the company also introduced memory and innovative techniques for RAM use to the pre–OS X Mac platform.
CHAPTER 27WORKING WITH MICROSOFT WINDOWS AND OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS 517
NOTE Emulation and virtualization seem similar in many cases but are quite different. Emula- tion (like the original Virtual PC) requires that the code being run actually needs to be translated before being used. (Virtual PC used dynamic recompilation to translate x86 code to PowerPC code before the code could be run.) Virtualization, on the other hand, allows con- current computer processes to run using the same hardware by partitioning the hardware’s memory and processing power so that each process runs entirely independently of every other. Common “virtualization” software that runs on your Mac today actually is a hybrid of both virtualization and emulation.
NOTE Leopard (and Tiger before that) actually contains its own emulation software that, like the original Virtual PC, uses dynamic recompilation. This software (called Rosetta) does the opposite, though. Rather than translate x86 code into PowerPC code, it makes sure old PowerPC code on your Mac runs on the new x86 architecture.
Upon switching to an Intel-based platform, Apple changed everything. Today not only is it possible to run Windows natively on your Apple computer, but a new range of virtualization products are now available to Mac users that run extremely well with little performance loss.
As a Mac user (provided you are using an Intel-based Mac), you have a number of options for running Windows on your computer. We’ll quickly go over each of these and point out the pros and cons of each of them.
Boot Camp
Shortly after Apple started shipping Intel-based computers, it released a utility called Boot Camp (which you had to seek out on its web site and download as a beta). Beginning with Leopard, Boot Camp is included along with Mac OS X. To get it up and running, you can use the Boot Camp Assistant that is located in the Applications/Utilitiesfolder.
Running Boot Camp allows you to effectively turn your Mac computer into a full-fledged Windows machine. The advantage of this is that all your Mac’s hardware will become dedicated to running Windows. The significant issue here, which is not available through any current vir- tualization or emulation methods, is that running in Boot Camp gives you full video acceleration, which is a must for certain applications (including most Windows gaming).
Boot Camp has a few disadvantages as well, though:
• You must reboot your computer to switch between OS X and Windows.
• You must create a dedicated partition on an internal hard drive to install Windows on.
NOTE You cannot install Windows on an external hard drive right now using Boot Camp.
• You must have a full version of Windows XP SP2 or newer to install Windows with Boot Camp.
Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion
Shortly after the release of Intel-based Macs, the buzz started increasing about a company called Parallels (www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/) that was making a virtualization product for the new Macs that would allow one to run Windows and other x86 operating systems on the new Macs under OS X with exceptional performance. Sure enough, when Parallels Desktop for the Mac was released, it did what it said it would. Soon, VMware, a company (now owned by EMC) that has a long history of virtualization, announced it too was building a product for the Mac; VMware has since released Fusion (www.vmware.com/products/fusion/; Figure 27-2) with similar capabilities to Parallels Desktop. These two products, although slightly different, work (from a user’s perspective) so similarly that it’s hard to pick one to recommend over the other.
Overall, they are both excellent.
Figure 27-2.Microsoft Windows XP Professional running in VMware
Running either Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion has some obvious advantages:
• They run on top of Mac OS X, providing you with the ability to switch quickly and easily from one environment to another without rebooting; in fact, both Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion have modes that actually will integrate the running Windows applications into your Mac OS X desktop.
• They can both run other operating systems besides Windows, allowing you to run Linux, Free BSD, Solaris x86, and many other operating systems (Figure 27-3).
• You can run multiple instances of one or many operating systems at the same time.
• They are both reasonably priced, well-supported, easy-to-use products that are quickly evolving with new features and better performance.
Despite the overwhelming advantages, there are a few disadvantages to both of these virtu- alization products:
• To allow them to run on top of Mac OS X, many hardware devices need to be emulated.
Although this largely doesn’t affect performance much for most devices, it has a very big effect on video acceleration performance.
NOTE VMware Fusion 1.1 and Parallels Desktop 3.0 finally both support DirectX 9, making it possible to use applications that require it. However, there is still a rather significant perform- ance hit. As both of these products evolve, it is likely that video performance will continue to improve, but it’s still a big consideration for some.
• You will need a copy of Windows or whatever operating system you choose to run, though unlike Boot Camp these will allow you to use older products and upgrades.
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Figure 27-3.Ubuntu Linux running in Parallels Desktop
NOTE One issue with Windows Vista is that Microsoft’s licensing agreement for the Windows Vista Home Edition products specifically disallows the use of those versions of Windows Vista for use with virtualization products, so if you plan on running Windows Vista on either of these products, you will need to purchase the more expensive Business Edition or Ultimate Edition to comply.
CodeWeaver’s CrossOver (and Wine)
One other option for running Windows applications (without Windows!) is CodeWeaver’s CrossOver (www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/). CrossOver is a commercially enhanced and supported product based on the open source Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) project (www.winehq.org/). What’s interesting about this is that rather than rely on Windows to run Windows-based applications, Wine attempts to duplicate the underlying libraries and frame- works used by the applications in order to run them natively on a different host operating system. The advantages of CrossOver over other options are as follows:
• It’s a less expensive option since it doesn’t require you to purchase Windows as well.
• Nothing is emulated, so the overall performance is very good, even for applications requiring video acceleration.
• It fairly easy to install and use.
NOTE The ease of use claim is made specifically for the commercial CrossOver product. Wine requires some work to get up and running, and it isn’t as easy to use once it’s set up either (but it is free and does work).
That said, it has some significant disadvantages. The biggest one is that not all Windows apps will work with CrossOver, and some that do exhibit some significant bugs. So if you need to run one or two Windows applications that are supported by CrossOver (or Wine), then this is a good way to go; if, however, you need to run a wide range of Windows applications, one of the other solutions is likely a better option.
Accessing a Windows Computer Remotely
Another, very different way of using Windows on your Mac is to actually connect to another computer running Windows using Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Connection (RDC). With RDC (available for free from www.microsoft.com/mac/), you can actually use a remote Windows com- puter from your Mac as if you were sitting right in front of it (Figure 27-4).
Figure 27-4.Windows computer accessible from a Mac using RDC
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Not only does RDC allow you to access a remote Windows computer, but it will allow you to copy and paste files and move them back and forth from your Mac to the connected Windows computer. You can even print items on your connected Windows computer to the printer con- nected to your Mac. Of course, you can also take full advantage of any application installed on the remote Windows computer.
The downside to RDC is that you need to have access to a computer running Windows. And of course, depending on the network connection between your Mac and the Windows computer, your performance may vary.
Summary
As any Mac user will tell you, Macs are just better computers with a better operating system.
With the switch to an Intel architecture, a Mac not only can run the best operating system (Leop- ard, of course) but is more than capable of slipping over into the world of Windows when necessary. Not only do apps such as Boot Camp, Fusion, and Parallels Desktop provide compat- ibility when necessary, but for people switching from Windows computers to Macs, they provide a way to maintain your investment in Windows software while you discover the advantages of using a Mac.
Appendixes
Apple boasts “300-plus innovations” in Leopard. Even if you are an experienced OS X user, that sounds like a lot of new stuff to learn. The truth is, many of these innovations are buried deep in the system, and while they in subtle ways improve how OS X behaves and interacts with the user, it’s often in ways that you may never consciously notice. This chapter aims to outline a few of the more significant changes in OS X, broken down into a few areas:
• The Finder and the desktop
• Safety features
• Application enhancements
• Developer tools
• Darwin
• Under the hood
• Others
New Finder and Desktop Features
The first thing an experienced OS X user will notice upon using Leopard (Figure A-1) is that while things are somewhat similar to OS X of the past, a number of things just look different.
Window borders have changed, the Dock is certainly different, and the Finder and its contents appear to be different, too.
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What’s New with Leopard?
A
APPENDIX
Figure A-1.The default Leopard desktop
Superficial Changes
Many of the changes seem to be purely superficial, including the following:
• The menu bar is translucent now.
• The Apple and the Spotlight icons in the menu bar are now black.
• The Dock now seems to be a 3D shelf with the icons sitting upon it rather than in it.
• The active applications in the Dock now seem to have a light shining on them to indicate they are active, rather than the small black triangle of old.
• The Window borders have changed to a more consistent, slightly different, “smoother”
gray metal theme.
• The drop-down menus now have slightly curved corners.
• The system folders have a new look to them.
• The drop shadows on everything seem a bit different.
These changes, however, are fairly insignificant. They don’t make using Leopard any differ- ent, they just change how it looks. If we delve deeper, we can find a number of things that can actually change how Leopard works, and more importantly how you can work with Leopard.
Stacks
Beyond changing its overall appearance, the Dock has added the Stack feature, which allows you to create “stacks” of files and place them on the Dock for easy access. This feature makes all the files in a directory easily accessible from the Dock. Figure A-2 shows the Stack feature.
Figure A-2.Applications folder expanded as a stack
Cover Flow
The Finder has integrated a few new features from other Apple applications. The first one, Cover Flow, represents a whole new way of browsing your computer. Cover Flow lets you browse through the files of a directory visually by either showing an icon or a Quick Look preview of the actual file in the same way that iTunes allows you to browse through album covers. Within the Finder, Cover Flow will display previews of most file types it understands, including MS Office files, text files, PDFs, most image formats, and even HTML previews (where it will display the actual rendered web page complete with images and styles!). This ability makes Cover Flow ideal for identifying a specific file from a large collection where the file itself has specific visual ele- ments. An example of Cover Flow used in a large collection of images is shown in Figure A-3.
NOTE By default, selecting Show All from a Spotlight search will open all the search results in a Cover View window. This makes finding things from a Spotlight search even easier!
APPENDIX AWHAT’S NEW WITH LEOPARD 527
Figure A-3.Cover Flow in action
Quick Look
While Quick Look is responsible for Cover Flow’s preview ability, it goes way beyond just dis- playing simple thumbnail images of a file. Selecting a file in the Finder and clicking the Quick Look icon (the eye on the Finder’s toolbar), or using the keyboard shortcut Cmd+Y (or just pressing the spacebar), will open any supported file in a window for viewing. The cool thing is that it opens the entire file for viewing almost immediately, without the need to launch any other application. A Word file open in Quick Look is shown in Figure A-4.
NOTE Quick Look relies on plug-ins for displaying items. Depending on the plug-in, what you see in the preview may not exactly match what you see in the application.
Improved Smart Folders
Like Cover Flow, smart folders are another Apple technology that was used in the past that has really matured nicely in Leopard. You can create a smart folder anywhere you have permission to do so. To create a smart folder, either select File ➤New Smart Folder from the Finder’s menu bar, use the Option+Cmd+N keyboard shortcut, or select the New Smart Folder option from the contextual menu (via mouse button 2, Ctrl+click, or a two-finger trackpad click, if that option is selected in the Trackpad preferences). This will bring up the window shown in Figure A-5, where you can set the parameters for your smart folder. Once you are done setting up your smart folder, click the Save button and choose a location for your smart folder.
You can create a smart folder from any Spotlight search as well.