Connecting PCs and Macs via Infrared Communications?

Posted by Cliff on Wednesday October 16, 2002 @06:21PM from the every-laptop-seems-to-have-one-why-not-use-it dept.

Stuee asks: "Isn't it about time my friend and I could sit opposite each other on the train and share documents or images without having to build a small network?! I mean, what's the point of both systems having infrared, and software to bridge the platform gap, if we can't connect? It's so frustrating that my XP laptop reports that my friend's iBook is in range, but cannot do anything about it, especially when my phone (which was a fraction of the cost of either laptop) and pocket device can communicate with both machines without any problem! If anyone knows of a workaround for this (other than cables), I think there would be a lot of people interested in hearing about it. Thanks for listening."

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yes, it's possible..use two terminal programs by blastedtokyo · 2002-10-16 18:52 · Score: 5, Informative

It's not exactly as friendly as Windwows to Windows or Mac to Mac but you can use Hyperterminal on Windows and the communications program in AppleWorks to talk to each other. Then you'd use ZModem or another protocol by choosing Send File from one machine to the other.
The only trick is that you need to choose IR (or in some cases it says Virtual IR) as the COM port instead of choosing a modem or COM port. Oh yeah, and make sure the two IR ports recognize each other.