E-Coder said:
If I have Windows XP on a desktop in my classroom, and 23 Mac Book laptops.
Can I setup a workgroup to simply share files? Or do I need to install a
server?
It depends on what you want to do. You're a bit light on the details. XP
and OS X can share files just fine. However, if you are planning to use
the XP box as a pseudo-server for file sharing, then you will run into
the concurrent inbound connection limitation. XP Home allows 5
concurrent inbound connections (and that doesn't mean 5 computers; each
computer can make more than one connection), XP Pro allows 10.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=314882 - Inbound connections limit in XP
concurrent connections:
5 for XP Home
10 for XP Pro/Tablet/MCE
49 for SBS 2000
74 for SBS 2003
Unlimited for full Server O/Ses
If all you mean is that you want the laptops and the XP Desktop to be
able to share files in a peer-to-peer manner amongst themselves and not
by using a file server, then sure that can be done - although with 24
machines it will be a bit unwieldy since you'll need to create identical
user accounts/passwords on all 24 machines.
If you want to have a file server, then use a Mac or run Linux instead
of XP. Otherwise you'll need to purchase Small Business Server. Since
all the clients run OS X, using a Windows server operating system
doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
If you need more help, you'll have to provide more details about exactly
what you are trying to do, your end goals, etc.
Malke
