- What’s the Difference Between a Mac and a PC?
- They’re more alike than you think
- Mac vs. PC or Mac and PC?
- How a Mac and a Windows-Based PC Are Similar
- How a Mac and a Windows-Based PC Are Different
- What About the Hackintosh?
- How to Format a Drive for Mac & PC Compatibility
- How to Format a Drive for Mac & Windows PC Compatibility
- Making the Drive Bootable & Compatible with Older Windows PC using MBR
- Using FAT File System Format for Mac & Windows Compatibility
- Is NTFS Compatible with Mac?
- What about HFS Apple File System?
- Is APFS Apple File System compatible with Windows PC?
- Related
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- 42 Comments
What’s the Difference Between a Mac and a PC?
They’re more alike than you think
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In the strictest definition, a Mac is a PC because PC stands for personal computer. However, in everyday use, the term PC typically refers to a computer running the Windows operating system, not the operating system made by Apple.
So, how does a Mac differ from a Windows-based PC?
Mac vs. PC or Mac and PC?
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The Mac vs. PC showdown started when IBM, not Apple or Microsoft, was the king of the computer. The IBM PC was IBM’s answer to the flourishing personal computer market that started with the Altair 8800 and was being led by companies like Apple and Commodore.
IBM was thrown a curveball when IBM-compatible personal computers, commonly referred to as PC clones, started popping up. When Commodore dropped out of the personal computer market, it became mostly a two-company race between Apple’s Macintosh line of computers and the legion of IBM-compatible computers, which were often referred to (even by Apple) as merely PCs. As Apple framed it, you could buy a PC, or you could buy a Mac.
Despite Apple’s attempts to distance itself from the PC, the Mac is now, and has always been, a personal computer.
How a Mac and a Windows-Based PC Are Similar
Because a Mac is a PC, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that Macs have more in common with Windows-based PCs than you might think. How much in common? Well, while this wasn’t always the case, you can install the Windows operating system on a Mac.
Remember, the Mac is just a PC with Mac OS installed on it. As much as Apple prefers the Mac to be thought of as something different than a PC, it’s never been more similar. You can install both Windows and Mac OS on your MacBook or iMac, switch between them, or run them side-by-side (or, more accurately, run Windows on top of Mac OS) using software such as Parallels or Fusion.
Some of those similarities are:
- They both use the same basic hardware components.
- They are both compatible with third-party keyboards and mice, including wireless keyboards and wireless mice.
- They both have a similar interface that allows you to save apps to your desktop, click on apps to run them, browse files in folders, and other actions.
- They both have a virtual assistant. The Mac has Siri, and Windows-based PCs have Cortana.
- They both allow you to use cloud services such as Dropbox, Box.net, and Google Drive.
- Popular browsers Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft’s Edge browser are available for both, with Safari no longer supported on Windows.
- The documents you create in Microsoft Office and other popular office suites can be viewed on both Mac and Windows PCs.
How a Mac and a Windows-Based PC Are Different
The Mac OS supports both a left-click and a right-click for the mouse. In addition, you can hook up the mouse you use on your Windows PC to a Mac. While Apple’s Magic Mouse may seem like it is a single button, clicking it from the right side produces a right-click.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for people transitioning from the Windows world to a Mac is keyboard shortcuts. The first time you try to use Control+C to copy something to the Mac clipboard, you realize that Control+C doesn’t copy anything to the clipboard. On the Mac, Command+C does. As simple as that difference sounds, it can take some getting used to before it feels natural.
The differences include:
- Microsoft Windows has more software written for it, including proprietary software some people need for work.
- Microsoft Windows supports both touch screens and the familiar keyboard and mouse setup, so it is available on desktops, laptops, and tablets. MacOS doesn’t support touch screens, so it is only available on iOS devices.
- The Mac has a connected relationship with the iPhone and the iPad. Not only can the Mac share files with the iPhone or iPad wirelessly using AirDrop, or iCloud, it can also open documents that are open on the iPhone or iPad and receive phone calls routed through the iPhone.
- More viruses and malware target Windows-based PCs. However, malware is written specifically for the Mac.
- Windows-based PCs are built by many different manufacturers, including HP, Dell, and Lenovo. This keeps prices down on PCs, which are usually less expensive than Macs.
- Macs are built and sold by Apple. This tighter control of the hardware leads to fewer problems, which can result in better stability, but it also means fewer options.
- Microsoft Windows has better support for gaming. This includes support for Virtual Reality hardware such as the Oculus Rift.
- It is easy to upgrade a Windows-based PC part by part. Although most people find it more convenient to buy a new PC, techies can boost the longevity of their computers by upgrading the RAM used by applications, the graphics used by games, or the storage used by music, movies, and other media.
What About the Hackintosh?
Despite the obvious connotation, the term hackintosh doesn’t refer to a Mac that’s been hacked. Remember that a Macbook or iMac can run Windows because the hardware is virtually the same? The reverse is also true. A PC meant for Windows may also be able to run the macOS, but the process is tricky.
All the hardware in a PC meant for macOS must be recognized by macOS. Typically, a hackintosh is a PC someone puts together themselves specifically to run macOS on it, and it takes a lot of research to get the right components,
Even with the right components, there’s no guarantee Apple won’t make future updates incompatible with that machine.
How to Format a Drive for Mac & PC Compatibility
You can format a hard drive or USB flash disk specifically so that it will be compatible with both Mac OS X and Windows PC computers.
Though this excellent cross-platform compatible ability is unknown to many users, it’s not a complex process, and if you frequently use both a Mac and Windows PC you will find this particularly useful because any data, media, or files stored on the the drive will always be accessible from any operating system. It only takes a few minutes to start and it’s extremely easy, and we’ll walk you through the entire process of formatting drives for Mac and PC compatibility in a few simple steps.
Remember, formatting a drive erases all data contained on it so back up important files before proceeding. Let’s quickly review how to format any drive for Mac and Windows PC compatibility with read and write support.
How to Format a Drive for Mac & Windows PC Compatibility
This works with any hard drive, flash drive, SSD, USB drive, or just about any other storage type that is accepted by both a Mac and Windows machine, and the entire process is performed in Mac OS X:
- Launch Disk Utility, found within /Applications/Utilities/
That’s how you can make a drive compatible with both Mac and PC.
Remember, formatting a drive erases all data on it.
Note this approach to formatting a drive for Mac and Windows PC compatibility are the same on basically every version of MacOS and Mac OS X, but the screenshots may look slightly different depending on your OS version. The result is still the same however when it comes to formatting the drive.
Making the Drive Bootable & Compatible with Older Windows PC using MBR
If you wish to boot the drive on a PC, or to use it with older versions of Windows, you may also need to set the partition scheme to Master Boot Record (MBR) for full Windows compatibility. From within Disk Utility, do the following:
- Click the drive, then select “Partition” tab
- From the “Partition Layout” dropdown menu, select “1 Partition”
- Click “Options” and choose “Master Boot Record” as the partition type, then click “OK” and “Apply”
Drives format very quickly, though the total time taken will depend on the size of the drive.
Using FAT File System Format for Mac & Windows Compatibility
Once the drive is formatted it will be compatible to be read and written to on both a Mac and PC.
Simply connecting the formatted drive to a Mac or PC will allow the drive to be used on either operating system, so you can access and transfer files as needed.
The FAT file system is compatible with all versions of Mac OS X and macOS, Windows 95, 98, Windows XP, Vista, 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, and later it’s one of the most widely recognized and usable file system formats. You’ll even be able to use the drive on most Linux and Unix machines too, if you need to.
This widespread compatibility makes FAT an ideal file system to use for USB flash drives or external hard drives that are intended for use in environments with multiple operating systems.
The primary downside to using FAT32 is the file size limit, which limits files on the drive to being 4GB in size or less. If you require single files to be larger than 4GB, use exFAT instead, though you will lose some compatibility with older versions of Mac OS X and Windows.
Is NTFS Compatible with Mac?
The NTFS file system is another option to use for Windows formatted drives and volumes, but it has limited compatibility with Mac OS by default.
Mac users can mount and read NTFS formatted Windows drives, making NTFS compatible with the Mac on the reading and mounting front, but writing to an NTFS drive requires using either third party software or enabling NTFS write support on the Mac using an experimental functionality bundled on the Mac. This is less than ideal for most users however, so while NTFS is compatible with a Mac and Windows PC, if you want to do heavy file sharing between the two with a lot of reading and writing, you may be better off formatting a drive as FAT32 as discussed above.
What about HFS Apple File System?
HFS is the Mac file system. If you only intend on using the drive on a Mac it’s recommended to format for Mac OS X use only using the journaled file system. Just be aware that the Mac-only formats are typically not readable by Windows machines without some third party software on the PC.
Is APFS Apple File System compatible with Windows PC?
The APFS file system is built for modern Macs and MacOS versions, and is not compatible with Windows PC by default. There are some third party tools and apps that allow mounting and reading APFS drives on Windows, but support for APFS is not part of Windows by default. Therefore, if you’re looking for Mac and PC drive compatibility, you’ll want to format the disk as either FAT or NTFS.
Did you get your drive formatted to Mac and PC compatible? What file system did you use and why? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments.
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42 Comments
Omg! Thank you SO much for posting this. I was having SO MANY issues! You rock!
The MS DOS FAT cuts the availability of space on the flash drive. I have a 16gb SanDisk that I wanted to put a movie onto. The movie was 8gb. It gave me errors and would not copy the file. Said format problem. So I reformatted to Apple (journaled) and had no more problems. But now, of course, a PC cannot read the flash drive. A POX ON MICROSOFT.
I don’t have that “MS DOS FAT” option in the list.
Well… So I’m running Mac OS X El Capitan and Windows 10 using BootCamp on my 2015 MacBook Air 13″ and I wanted a disk where I could put something in from the Mac and then reboot into Windows and take out that file.
I did all the instructions and re-formatted my Internal SSD with lots of space to spare on both my OS X system and Windows BootCamp. And after the instructions, I tried to boot into Windows. And then I see that is says something like: “Your PC needs to be repaired. Press Enter to try again.”
So that didn’t really go so well. Can anybody help me?
Thanks admin for the post finally i got worked solution.
What you can do in this case is to setup an FTP site on your PC and connect from the MAC. I’m doing this now and will show it on my website when complete.
I have inherited three Macs. I was planning to use them but now I am convinced that Apple is interested in creating compatibility issues, worse that microsoft, so I am switching to Linux.
I am a Mac and a PC user, and i want my HD to be under pass word protected . I do not like encryption, how do i do it
Can I reformat just one partition or must I do the entire external hard drive?
the entire drive
Make Sure you’ve selected the Drive (NOT THE PARTITION)
(you may have to select View/Show all Devices, instead of Show Only Volumes in order to see the Drive instead of the partition)
Click Erase
Wanted to copy a large video file so needed to use exFAT. Result: ‘Volume Erase failed with the error: Couldn’t unmount disk.’
Any solutions to this problem?
I’m looking to do this as I want to use my external hdd on windows and mac, but what’s this thing about a partition?
Do I need to do this and if I do (so all the bases are covered), does it have any disadvantages?
How can I password encrypt my external hard drive when it’s format is MS-DOS so it can securely work on a PC and Mac?
To format a hard drive for compatibility of both Mac and windows you can use FAT32 format which has both read/write capability on win/Mac respectively. Although we know its limitation of 4gb file size only. Means if one want to transfer movie or any stuff greater than 4gb it can’t be done in this format. So, after an hour research I am able to find three solutions for it:
1.If moving files one way, from Mac to Windows, use HFS+.
To move files from Windows to Mac, use NTFS. if moving files both ways, use either.
2.Chosse either FAT32 or exFAT for gaining compatibility in Pc as well Mac.
3.Create two partitions on your hard drive to use with each OS, separately. You can create,delete,format,resize boot camp partition,repartition without any data loss, can make bootable DVD by Stellar partition manager. I found this tool really easy to use and efficient.
dear B watson
How about NTFS fir with Mac and PC compatibility ?
any short fall on this formate ?
Thanks! I appreciate the help!
– Curtis
[…] they’re a little nerdy, but sometimes that’s just what you need, as in this case: a dead-easy how-to guide to formatting a USB drive (or USB key or flash drive or thumb drive or whatever you may call it) for use on both a Mac and a […]
Zfs for os x was killed when some licensing issues arose.
MacOSX needs to get full NTFS support.
Windows needs to get HFS support.
Both need ext3, and ext4 support.
Seriously, how can we have a modern OS without supporting modern FS?
No, why should an operating system support the file systems of other operating systems? HFS+ can be used for Mac volumes, NTFS can be useed for Windows volumes and Ext3 and Ext4 can be used for Linux volumes. There should be no need for Mac OS X to support NTFS, Ext3 and Ext4 and there should be no need for Windows to support HFS+, Ext3 and Ext4.
I say “there SHOULD be no need” and I’ll explain why:
In my opinion it’s absolutely ridiculous to use a file system which was designed for an operating system from the last century on our external media. FAT was never designed for external media and it’s outdated. There should be a file system which is designed for external media and supports large files and large volumes, just like all other modern file systems.
FAT was designed by Microsoft and is patented by Microsoft. Every who wants to use FAT has to pay Microsoft. Almost all external devices you buy (hard drives, USB key, flash cards, etc) are pre-formatted as FAT (because it’s the only file system which works on almost every device they have to use FAT), so some money goes to Microsoft for almost every external device you buy. They have to pay Microsoft to use FAT.
Almost every device supports FAT. Almost every device you buy (a Mac, a NAS, a router which has a USB port to connect a hard disk to, a digital camera, a radio which can play songs from USB or flash card / simply put: every device which can read from a hard disc, USB key or flash card) has to buy a license at Microsoft to be allowed to use FAT and and additional license to be able to use NTFS.
I’ve been wondering for years now: Why didn’t they develop a file systems for external devices, just like they did with CD’s? I can burn a data CD (MP3 files on a data CD) and it just plays everywhere: in my car, in my DVD player, in every operating system. Every device just supports it. Why didn’t they do the same with external devices.
In my opinion it’s ridiculous to use a file system from the last century, which was designed for an old operating system and which is patented by Microsoft. They should have introduced a completely new, open and completely independent file system which is designed for external devices and is free to use by everyone.
Could Ext4 (and coming newer versions) be a perfect candidate for this? It supports very large files and (as far as I can see) isn’t licensed by anyone in particular. The only problem that persists is that it’s supported by nothing but Linux.
It’s always nice to have a standard. It’d be great if there were only a very limited amount of different batteries, different cables and whatnot. But there aren’t. I always have to think of this particular XKCD comic when talking about this 😉 http://xkcd.com/927/
Mac OS is about having their clients live in a crystal cage.
