Formatting external Hard Drive for Mac and PC Access

I have a USB External HD by Seagate that I want to add to my Airport Extreme BS that creates my LAN for a Mac PB, WinXP laptop and HP OfficeJet printer. The disk is currently formatted as NTFS and I don't think a Mac can read that. My HD manufacturer (Seagate) told me 1) FAT32 is unstable for PC and/or Mac usage and 2) my 300GB Pushbutton HD (3 years old) "will not work" on a LAN.
I think both issues are BS as they now have the Maxtor "network HDs" to sell. Any truth to this??
Second question: Seagate forums suggested that I format HD to FAT32 or Mac format and then buy "MacDrive" software so the PC can read/write to the drive. Same question: BS or truth.

I think there is a decent amount of BS in there...
I have a USB HD that came out of the box formatted as FAT32- both my MacBook Pro and PC laptop can read & write to it just fine. I haven't had it long enough to comment on stability, but haven't had any issues yet. I don't have any special software on the PC, either- I think the info from the Seagate forums sounds like people remembering the "old days" of Windows 98 and pre-OS X systems, when you did need software like that for true cross-platform drive access.
As for the drive not working on a LAN- well, the hardware doesn't know the difference, so as long as it's connected via USB to the AEBS, it's fine. What could cause an issue would be your PC OS version. I have found WinXP to be really good (well, for a Win OS, anyway) at playing nice with others. Vista is a train wreck for many, many reasons, but may be OK for this too. Anything earlier than XP may be a bit more troublesome.
Hope my 2 cents helps...

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    http://macosx.com/forums/mac-os-x-system-mac-software/270038-format-new-hard-dis k-into-fat32.html
    http://en.kioskea.net/faq/sujet-676-formatting-your-drive-with-fat32
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    I think there is a decent amount of BS in there...
    I have a USB HD that came out of the box formatted as FAT32- both my MacBook Pro and PC laptop can read & write to it just fine. I haven't had it long enough to comment on stability, but haven't had any issues yet. I don't have any special software on the PC, either- I think the info from the Seagate forums sounds like people remembering the "old days" of Windows 98 and pre-OS X systems, when you did need software like that for true cross-platform drive access.
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    2) Installed Paragon NTFS onto my MAC
    3) Connected LACIE to Mac.
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    2) Connection with Firewire 800 from Lacie to Mac - it does NOT work. The disk gets ejected. I have logged a support call with Paragon on this issue and am waiting a reply.
    3) Connection with Firewire 400 from Lacie to Mac - have not tried it yet.
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    http://www.myfirstmac.com/index.php/mac/articles/1-external-hard-drive-for-your- mac-and-pc
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    JamesUFOs...
    http://www.youtube.com/user/JamesEBEs

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