Description:
PC MACLAN solves a fundamental problem for anyone using a PC on a Mac network: the program simply makes the Macs on the network recognize the PC as a Mac. The truly amazing thing is not how well PC MACLAN works--which is seamlessly and reliably--but the fact that, here in the 21st century, PCs and Macs still can't network together right out of the box. Well, what's bad for us is good for Miramar Systems. Miramar has been publishing and polishing PC MACLAN for years, and version 8.1, designed for Windows NT and Windows 2000, is the best version yet. Installed on a PC that is connected to a Mac network, PC MACLAN requires only a small amount of configuring. Beyond that, you will probably never have to think about it again. Once installed and configured, the PC shows up in the Chooser dialog box on any Mac as if it were a Mac, and Macs with File Sharing turned on appear in My Network Places on the PC. Files can be copied from one machine to another, or you can access your Mac file server from the PC. PC MACLAN also allows Macs on the network to use printers connected to the PC. Version 8.1 takes full advantage of AppleTalk IP protocols, meaning that it's faster than earlier versions. In our tests, using Windows 98 and PC MACLAN v7.2, a directory took 19 minutes to copy from one machine to another. This same PC was upgraded to Windows 2000, and using PC MACLAN v8.1, the exact same directory took only eight minutes to copy. The only drawback is that PC MACLAN truncates the long file names on Windows (which may in fact be more of a Mac issue). Windows supports file names of up to 256 characters, while PC MACLAN documentation tells us that the Mac is limited to 32. However, this is possibly the only dark spot on an otherwise terrific product. --Mike Caputo
| 
