The squabble between Windows and Mac devices has its roots in the use of different printer software (typically referred to as drivers) and networking protocols, two under-the-hood technologies that are inscrutably complicated. (Feeling a little befuddled yet? That’s what is happening to the printer.) requires a tricky translation from U.S.B.-based protocols to Ethernet or Wi-Fi protocols. connection on home printers was not designed to carry networking information. The basic problem with setting up a shared printer is that the U.S.B. My printers, a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet P1006 and a Samsung ML-1740, are both elderly, low-end lasers. I set out to find the easiest way to share a printer, using my own home equipment: two MacBook Pro laptops, a Dell Windows 7 desktop and an Asus Windows 7 netbook. Add a Mac to the mix, which is becoming more common, and the process can get complicated, pronto. Sharing a printer is one of the most basic appeals of wireless networking, and it can be pretty simple if your computers run the Windows operating system.
If you are like many people, however, you get computers that can’t print. What do you get when you mix four computers, two operating systems, one printer and a wireless home network? If you are lucky, a convenient way to share the printer among all computers.
