If you ’re a longtime Mac substance abuser , the title of today ’s column may seem a bit perplexing ; thisisstillMacworld , right ? Well , yes . But with Boot Camp and Parallels make it easy to run Windows on Intel - found Macs , a good number of Mac users are at least experimenting with the “ other side ” of computing on their Macs . And one of the most plebeian interrogation I ’ve seen relating to this experimentation is , “ How do I get my pressman to work when I ’m run Windows ? ”
If your printer is being shared by another Mac running o X 10.4 , or is associate to an AirPort Extreme or Express Base Station , the gentle — and perhaps the most surprising — resolution actually comes from Apple : Bonjour . What ’s that ? As Apple explains it :
In other words , Bonjour is the engineering science that take in printer and other Macs on your local meshwork appear mechanically in Printer Setup Utility and the web web browser without a wad of complicated apparatus ; it ’s been a part of Mac OS X for years . Unfortunately , Microsoft has n’t yet say “ bonjour ” to Bonjour ( orZeroconf , as it ’s also known ) . So Apple took the enterprise and created the freeBonjour for Windows . After downloading and installing this software system in Windows — including window running on a Mac — Windows can automatically discover Bonjour - enable gimmick on your local net . Such as , say , printers being share by AirPort Base Stations or other Macs .
Even well , Apple ’s installer includes a Bonjour Printer Wizard that walks you through fix up a Bonjour printing machine in Windows :
The only caveats here are ( 1 ) You need to have Java installed in Windows ( which most hoi polloi will ) before installing Bonjour for Windows ; and ( 2 ) You need to have the drivers for your pressman installed in Windows before scat the Bonjour Printer Wizard . In my case , I snuff it to the Brother Web site and download and installed the latest driver for my HL-1440 .
As a incentive , with Bonjour for Windows instal , you may also take reward of other Bonjour features . For example , you ’ll see a novel Bonjour icon in the Internet Explorer ( Windows version ) toolbar ; get across on this icon will show you all Bonjour - enabled HTTP devices on your web . ( For me , this includes two TiVos , aRoku SoundBridge Radio , and a Slim DevicesSlimServer . )
Although Bonjour for Windows has been out for quite a while , few people seem to know about it ; whenever I recommend it to someone as a way to print to a Mac- or AirPort - divvy up printer , they seem genuinely surprised that it be — and , subsequently , sunnily surprised at how easy it is to use . If you ’re using Parallels or Boot Camp , give it a try .
