Home Networking: The Missing Manual

Printing across the Network

In Chapters 5 and 6, you learned how to share printers among computers that used the same operating system. What happens if you want to cross the platform divide and, say, print from your Windows PC to the color laser printer connected to your wife's Mac?

The good news is that it's pretty easy to do. The first step is something you've already learned: set up the printer so it's ready to be shared. Chapter 5 (Section 5.4.1) has all the details if you've got a printer attached to a Windows PC; Chapter 6 (Section 6.4.1) shows you what to do for Mac-connected computers. The next steps depend on which operating system you're printing from.

Printing from Windows to a Mac Printer

Before you connect from a Windows PC to a printer shared by a Mac, make sure you've installed the driver software (Section 5.4.1) your Windows machine needs to make the printer work. Often, Windows can figure out what kind of printer you're trying to use and install the appropriate software, but just as often, Windows throws up its hands and asks you for help in determining the make and model for the printer. And don't worry that the printer is Mac-only and won't have Windows software. It's a Windows world out there, and pretty much every printer made in the past few years comes with drivers for both Windows and Macintosh systems.

Note

If you don't have the original software that came with your printer, visit the manufacturer's Web site and download the software that matches your printer's ...