External HDD formatting for use in Mac OS X and Windows

I've been gifted with WD (My Passport) 1TB External HDD. On the box it says it requires reformatting for use in Mac OS X.
I used the earlier discussions. I couldn't decipher the steps details as it was mostly by level 4 above.
Can any honourable member advice me on how to reformat my new external HDD for use in Mac OS X and Windows (As in office and during meetings I might haveto use wwindows system)
Also if done with formatting will this be allowing to setup Time Machine back ups.
Please be sure that I want to use time machine exclusively for backup, some earlier discussions mention that TM can also be used for OS booting etc.,
I would be greatful to all who will help me in these regard

Normally the drives are formated as exFAT which could be used by both a Mac and a PC out of the box.  Connect the drive to your computer it should be able to read it.  If not then the system will ask you if you want o erase the hard drive.  Select yes, it will format the drive for use with a Mac only.  This is the required format to use it as a Time Machine backup.  As stated in our post you would like to use this hard drive on both Windows and Mac, you should reformat the hard drive as exFAT in disk utility. 

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