Understanding Macintosh Services

Each of the three components that together provide Macintosh support in Windows 2000 has its own set of responsibilities:

• The AppleTalk stack handles network communications with Macintosh clients that use AppleTalk, as well as AppleTalk routing. You can install and use the AppleTalk protocol without the file or print services; doing so lets you route AppleTalk traffic or accept calls through Remote Access Service (RAS) from remote Macintosh users.
• FSM handles the publishing of files from a MAV to Macintosh clients. As part of that duty, it converts Macintosh pre-Mac OS X file forks to and from NTFS streams in real time; it also manages the creator, type, and icon data needed by Mac OS Finder. When Windows clients use files on a MAV's underlying share, they access files through the standard server service, which FSM is layered on top of.
• PSM allows you to offer your Macintosh clients the same set of shared printers that you offer to your Windows clients, and also permits Windows clients to access Macintosh printers. PSM converts PostScript output from Macintosh clients into device-independent bitmap (DIB) files that Windows 2000 printer drivers can handle. In addition, PSM lets you create printer pools and prioritize print jobs—two features missing from versions of Mac OS earlier than Mac OS X. However, to use this feature with printers hosted by a Macintosh system, you need to capture the printers in Windows 2000 Server that you want to use. Captured printers can't be used directly by AppleTalk clients; instead, they must send their print requests to the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, which in turn forwards them to the printer itself. If you leave the printer uncaptured, AppleTalk clients can print to it but you can't audit, control, or prioritize the printing from your Windows 2000 Server—that's the inherent trade-off. As an extra bonus, PSM allows Windows users to print to printers on the AppleTalk network.