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futureswitcher

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 12, 2008
80
0
Hey everyone!

I need to burn a data CD of some pdf files on my MacBook (10.5.7) and I was just going to do the standard mac procedure:

Right Click > New Burn Folder > Drag pdf documents into folder > press "burn"

...but I realized I need the CD to be able to run on windows computers as well. Will that method work, or will it not be readable on windows without some kind of hack?
 
I think the default should be readable for either computer

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
Isnt that the job of a PDF to be a cross platform readable document? I would say so long as the computer has Adobe Acrobat Reader you will be fine. It's not like the Mac is going to burn the files in some mysterious code... They are pdf files. It should work just like copying the pdfs to a flash drive then plugging that flash drive into a windows box the files will be there,as will those wierd 'ghost' files you see when transferring data from Mac to Windows.
 
Why wouldnt it be? Does OS X burn files in some crazy incomprehensible code? Not that im aware of. A pdf file on Mac, windows, linux, on a cd, on a flash drive, or even a 5 1/4 floppy, is still just a pdf.

EDIT: The way i understand it is, "If it doesnt need to be a bootable disk then any computer should be able to read the files"
 
Why wouldnt it be? Does OS X burn files in some crazy incomprehensible code? Not that im aware of. A pdf file on Mac, windows, linux, on a cd, on a flash drive, or even a 5 1/4 floppy, is still just a pdf.

EDIT: The way i understand it is, "If it doesnt need to be a bootable disk then any computer should be able to read the files"

I agree, but I think that was the question... would a Mac burned data CD be readable on a Windows computer, not whether a .pdf created on a Mac would be readable on a PC.


Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
One of the first questions I asked on here after getting my first Mac was "how do I make a Windows-compatible CD?". Obviously just dragging the files on wouldn't work as it's a completely different OS. As it turned out, it really was that easy :p
 
One of the first questions I asked on here after getting my first Mac was "how do I make a Windows-compatible CD?". Obviously just dragging the files on wouldn't work as it's a completely different OS. As it turned out, it really was that easy :p

Me too :eek:
That's why I understood the question
That seems like such a long time ago

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
Pretty much all burners and OS's write to the CDFS format, and they pretty much all can read that format as well.

PDF's are also platform-independent. It's the application you use to read them that changes from one OS to another.
 
Yes, I knew you could transfer the files directly, it was the CD itself that was in question. Thanks, MacDawg, for clarifying me.

Also, thanks to all for the responses. I am a mac user of one year and 9 days! (I remember the exact date because I was scrambling to register my AppleCare in time!) and can't believe I haven't run into this question before now!

I guess it just goes to show how little we use CDs anymore!
 
I bought my Blackbook brand new a little over a year ago. I have used my super drive three times.

Burn a cd at work for my boss.
Let my gf son watch a movie while we were camping.
Burn Windows 7 to a dvd for boot camp installation.

I wish i could cram a blu-ray player in it. Got a PS3 at home so i have a decent library that i would mind having access to on the go.
 
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