Can I use CS4 windows at home and transfer my files to my schools Mac computer!

Question

Next semester I am planning on taking Intro to Computer Arts and I am thinking of purchasing CS4 for my home computer so I can do assignments at home - I also love photography so I plan to use it for that as well.  The problem is I have a windows based computer, and my school computer is Mac.  Will I be able to create a file in windows and view it on a Mac computer?
Thank you!
Sue

Answer 1

Sue,
I thought Mac computers saved their files in a different format
It was not a "different format," per se, but a bit-order within the format. As John points out, that was a long time ago.
Now, here are some thoughts on the transfer of the files:
One can use external HDD's to move the files around. Note that image files can be pretty large. On most current PC's the HDD format is NTSF, instead of the older FAT-32. Unless it has changed, the Mac OS will want to see the older FAT-32 format for the external. Most come with that format from the mfgr. With image files, this is usually not an issue, because they are less than the ~4GB file size limit of FAT-32. Video files can be a whole different issue.
Most Mac OS's will have no problems with PC-formatted externals. It is not always the same thing going the other direction. My PC's have always been able to "mount" Mac discs. In the old days, I used one of several utilities to accomplish this. Now, it is less of an issue, but if you need to "mount" a Mac-formatted external and cannot, you might want to get MacDrive. Do not recall the price, but it's pretty cheap and effective. One caveat, should you go with MacDrive: upon installation, it will load one of its modules into the StartUp section of your MSCONFIG. Normally, this will just load and be transparent. However, if you get a DVD, that has both Mac and PC versions of programs on it, all of a sudden, your PC will only see the Mac versions, and not see the PC versions. The trick here is to use the included MSCONFIG (from the Start>Run) to NOT load that MacDrive module at StartUp. MacDrive will still work fine, when you launch it, but now your PC will see both versions of programs/files on those dual-platform DVD's.
Again, you might not even need this, but it is an option.
Were I you, I'd pick up an external HDD, with probably a FireWire connection, leave it formatted in FAT-32, and use it transport my image files between home and school.
Maybe one of the Mac-users can confirm whether the FAT-32 is still necessary on current Mac OS's.
One last consideration will be the calibration of your PC's monitor to the settings of your lab's Mac displays. Since the school will not let you adjust the Mac that you're working on, you'll want to calibrate your PC to match the lab machines. Otherwise, you will be doing things like density/gamma correction and color correction on one machine, only to have it look horrible on the other.
Good luck, and have fun in Photoshop!
Hunt