Moving Between Macs and PCs

Processor

• The ‘Brain’ of the computer

• Machine Language Instruction Set

• Some processors are Instruction-set compatible (AMD vs. Intel)

• Turing Equivalence allows Emulation given enough time and memory

Firmware

• Where’s the OS? (Bootstrapping)

• Basic IO functions

• Stored data (time, hardware info)

File Systems

• How data is stored on the disk

• Defines the:– Maximum file size– Maximum number of files/directories– Valid file names– Security (permissions, encryption)

Operating System

• Runs other programs

• Provides common system services (API)

• User interface for file system (GUI and/or command-line)

MAC vs. PC (1997)

Mac PC

Processor PowerPC G3 Pentium II

Firmware Open Firmware BIOS

File System HFS+, NTFS(r) FAT32,NTFS

OS OS 8 Win 95

Ext. Ports ADB, SCSI, Serial (EIA-422)

Serial (RS-232), Parallel

Int. Ports IDE, SCSI IDE,SATA

Network AppleTalk TCP/IP

MAC vs. PC (2006)

Mac PC

Processor Intel Core/Xeon Intel Core/Xeon

Firmware EFI BIOS

File System HFS+, NTFS(r) FAT32,NTFS

OS OS x or Win XP Win XP

Ext. Ports USB, Firewire USB, Firewire

Int. Ports SATA IDE,SATA

Network TCP/IP TCP/IP

Image © d00d@flickr

© Dell

File System LimitationsFAT32 NTFS HFS+

File Size 4 GiB 16 TiB* 16 EiB

# Files 268 Mil 4 Bil Unim.

Disk Size 2 TiB 256 TiB* 16 EiB

Security None E,P E,P

File System Compatability

FAT32 NTFS HFS+

OS X RW R RW

Win XP RW RW

Solutions for Moving Big Files

• Network Transfer (Server or Host to Host)

• Export to DV Tape

• Split the movie into smaller chunks (<4GB) for FAT32 then re-assemble

Other Tricks

• ISO 9660 CDs can be read by PCs and Macs

• Hold down ‘T’ while booting to boot Mac as a Firewire hard-drive (HFS+)

• Format your iPod on a PC to use it on both Mac and PC (FAT32)

• Macs can boot into Windows (Boot Camp) or Emulate a PC (Parallels)

Image Credits• http://www.sci.usda.gov/cce/desktop_mid.html - 1997 PC, Believed to be public domain as a government work (USDA)• 1997 Mac, Public Domain• -http://search.creativecommons.org/?q=MacPro&engine=flickr, 2007 MacPro, Creative Commons Attribution, No Derivs• http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/precn_490?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04, 2007 Dell Worksation ©Dell

computers, used under Fair Use