[comp.sys.ibm.pc] PC <==> MAC ?

knotts@hpl-opus.HP.COM (Tom Knotts) (03/15/90)

I have a PC clone, and I want to know if I can read/write MAC (gag) files.
I have a 1.44M 5.25 disk drive. Can I run the Dana program without buying
a special disk drive? Does it only make sense to read/write ASCII files, or
could I read in an MS Word file made on a MAC, then edit it using MS Word on
my PC, write it back out in the MAC MS Word format so that a MAC can use it,
etc.

It seems that these pesky MACs just won't go away. Since so many people
use a MAC, especially at Stanford, it makes sense to be able to interchange
with the PC.

tom
___________

hd7x@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (03/16/90)

In article <63320012@hpl-opus.HP.COM>, knotts@hpl-opus.HP.COM (Tom Knotts) writes:
> I have a PC clone, and I want to know if I can read/write MAC (gag) files.
> I have a 1.44M 5.25 disk drive. Can I run the Dana program without buying
> a special disk drive? Does it only make sense to read/write ASCII files, or
> could I read in an MS Word file made on a MAC, then edit it using MS Word on
> my PC, write it back out in the MAC MS Word format so that a MAC can use it

First of all, your 1.44MB drive must be a 3.5" not a 5.25"

Yes, you can use your 1.44MB drive to read/write Mac disks by using the Copy ][
PC Deluxe Option Board.  It works with your existing drive.  As for files, if
the programs on the Mac and IBM are file-format compatible, you can transfer
them without resorting to ASCII.  I believe with Word, they don't use the same
format, but the Mac version can load and save MS-DOS Word files if you turn on
some option in the Save menu.  As long as one program is capable of reading the
other's files, you should be all right.

-Sanjay Aiyagari (HD7X@vax5.cit.cornell.edu)

crmeyer@voodoo.ucsb.edu (03/16/90)

-Message-Text-Follows-
In article <3646.26001664@vax5.cit.cornell.edu>, hd7x@vax5.cit.cornell.edu writes...
>In article <63320012@hpl-opus.HP.COM>, knotts@hpl-opus.HP.COM (Tom Knotts) writes:
>> I have a PC clone, and I want to know if I can read/write MAC (gag) files.

>Yes, you can use your 1.44MB drive to read/write Mac disks by using the Copy ][
>PC Deluxe Option Board. 

The PC Deluxe Option board sometimes has problems unless the floppy disk drive
controller cables are shortened. Usually the drive has random read/write
problems. Shortening the cable always seemed to cure the problem. This card
only works with certian brands and models of disk drives. I would reccommend
contacting tha manufacturer of the PC Deluxe Option board for a list of
compatable drives.

akm@spencer.cs.uoregon.edu (Anant Kartik Mithal) (03/16/90)

I do this almost everyday...

The newer macs SEs, IIcx, IIci, IIx, or any mac that has the new (high
density drive) can read and write both 1.44Mb and 720 K PC disks. You
use a program called AFex (apple file exchange), that comes with the
Mac OS.

kartik



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Anant Kartik Mithal					akm@cs.uoregon.edu
Department of Computer Science				akm@oregon.BITNET
University of Oregon