Mac2Windows

Conversions Plus Lets Windows Users Work with Mac Files and Drives

- 2003.04.30 - Tip Jar

As the minority platform, Mac users have to try harder. As a result, Apple has included the ability to read PC-formatted diskettes since Apple File Exchange shipped with System 6 in the late 1980s.

Mac users have had to learn to live with the quirks of PC file naming - up until 1995, limiting file names to cryptic 8 letters, and even today remembering to add 3-letter file extensions to email attachments and other documents destined to be read by a Windows PC.

Sometimes, though, the shoe is on the other foot. Once in a while a Windows PC user has to work with disks or files designed for the Mac. This is the often case for users who have a Mac at home but have to use a Windows system at work, for example.

DataViz is a company with a long tradition of helping Mac users read documents when they don't have the application that created it. Limited versions of their MacLink Plus filters have been included by Apple with some versions of ClarisWorks/AppleWorks - and even with some operating system versions - to help users open a wide range of documents.

Early versions of MacLink Plus included primitive (by today's standards) connectivity between Macs and PCs; I have a version that includes a serial cable with an oblong PC connector at one end and a round Mac serial connector at the other. Software for DOS and Windows 3.1 and for the Mac allowed the two systems to connect and transfer files, which the MacLink filters translated into commonly used Mac formats.

Currently, Apple is once again including a limited subset of DataViz's MacLink file translators with AppleWorks, providing users of that program the ability to open files created with Mac and Windows versions of Microsoft Office and other programs. And DataViz continues to market the full version of MacLink Plus (no longer including a serial transfer cable), giving users a the ability to view, open, and translate a wide range of Mac and PC data files without needing the program that originally created them. The company claims to have sold over 10 million copies of MacLink over the years.

They've taken this long tradition of producing high quality data translators and concerns with Mac/Windows compatibility and produced a product for Windows users. Their MacOpener 2000 (US$50, $30 upgrade) and Conversions Plus (US$70, $40 upgrade) programs give Windows users abilities that Mac users take for granted - the ability to read Mac-formatted disks. In addition to Mac-formatted diskettes, CDs, and SCSI drives, the latest versions let Windows users read Mac-formatted FireWire hard drives, including the hard disk in Mac versions of Apple's iPod.

While Conversions Plus includes all of MacOpener's abilities to read Mac-formatted storage media, it adds the same range of file translators; this allows Windows PC users to, for example, open old documents created in MacWrite or the PC AmiPro in their current version of Microsoft Word. (Conversions Plus - but not MacOpener - includes a copy of EphPod, a music management program that allows Windows users to send music files to the Mac-formatted iPod).

Both MacLink and Conversions Plus include a large list of word processor, spreadsheet, database, and graphics file filters, but they lack the ability to read page layout documents. (Too bad - I'm sure there is a niche market for the ability to open, say, old Ready-Set-Go documents in PageMaker or Quark XPress or Word. Or even to open PageMaker 3 documents in modern versions of PageMaker). Check Dataviz's list for a full list of included translators.

While complex documents - complete with imbedded graphics, tables, and special formatting - will inevitably pose problems, Conversions Plus (and the Mac-equivalent MacLink Plus) does as good a job as possible, allowing users to deal with a wide range of documents, whether created on the other platform or with older, and often no longer easily available software versions.

DataViz has recently dropped prices, making these admittedly niche products more attractive, though they may still seem expensive for casual users who might only need them once in a while. Moreover, the company tends to require customers to pay full upgrade price for what I consider fairly minor revisions.

There are a number of competing products to allow Windows PCs to read Mac-formatted media, but if you need to also read a wide range of Mac (or older PC) document formats, DataViz's Conversions Plus is your best bet. LEM

Join us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

Alan Zisman is Mac-using teacher and technology writer based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Many of his articles are available on his website, www.zisman.ca. If you find Alan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Other articles by Alan Zisman

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2012 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
  Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Custom Search

Share

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Quantcast

TypeStyler 11 is now in the Mac App Store!! -- Special Introductory Price of $59.95!! -- To Buy From The Mac App Store Click Here Now!! Or buy direct from Strider Software.

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker and Mac Casino applications in minutes.

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Quantcast

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
Cult of Mac
Shrine of Apple
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac Museum
DealMac
Deal Brothers
Mac2Sell
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End Mac FAQ

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The Apple Store
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
GainSaver
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay

Low End Mac's Amazon.com store

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link