iDisk Utility For Windows XP Eases XP Access To Shared Info

by , 8:00 AM EST, February 27th, 2003

Many Mac users are forced to use something other than their computer of choice when not at home. Until recently, if the computer was a Windows machine you were out of luck if you wanted to share files using your iDisk. As OS X progressed, so did its compatibility with the various flavors of Windows, and now iDisks can share info with Macs and PCs alike with little fanfare. To make it even easier to share your iDisks data with Windows XP systems, Apple has released an iDisk utility specifically for use with Windows XP machines. From Apple:

The new iDisk Utility for Windows XP provides access to your iDisk contents from within the Windows XP operating system and makes it simple for the Windows XP users you share files with to access and use your iDisk Public folder. Just send them to www.mac.com/1/idiskutility_download.html where they can download a copy for their use.

Once it's installed, you can launch it, enter a .Mac member name, and press a button to cause the appropriate iDisk contents to show up at the "My Computer" level in the file system. If you've used the more powerful Mac version of iDisk Utility to give users the right to drop files in your Public folder as well as drag them out, that same ability will extend to Windows XP users. Just don't forget to tell them the Public folder password if you assigned one.

Go to Apple's .Mac Web site for more information and download links about the iDisk Utility for Windows XP.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Back in the days of pre-OS X, Macs had to be coerced into some sort of compatibility with Windows and Unix systems. A Mac could talk to other machines, but extra work and software was required, which was part of the reason why IT managers could convince the powers-that-be that Macs were the odd man out on corporate networks.

Since OS X, arguments about Macs being incompatible hold less and less water, in fact, we'd say that bucket is darn near dry. Now it is becoming more likely that Windows users need access to info on shared Mac-based resources now that Apple is pushing its way back into the corporate domain. Compatibility is the key, and while this little iDisk Utility for XP is a small step in the right direction, taken along with other compatibility issues that Apple has addressed, and continues to address in OS X, it's easy to see that Apple is serious about working and playing well with others.

Now, if only we could convince Big Redmond to do the same...

iDisk Utility for Windows XP