How to Enable Windows Sharing in Mac OS-X Leopard

Being quite the Mac OS-X newb, I had a little trouble knowing how to share files from my PC to my Mac. Apparently there are still quite a lot of confused people out there in various threads and forums, so I thought I might help clear up with providing my experience on how I got it working. From what others have said, this used to be much easier in OS-X Tiger, and it was a change made in Leopard that is causing all the fuss. I used to have a Macbook Pro and I didn't seem to have this problem, even while using Leopard, but it is definitely an issue on the recently released new Mac Mini.

I will explain how to connect to a windows workgroup, because that's how my network is set up. For other network configurations, this obviously may not work. Furthermore, this only explains how to get your Mac to see Windows shares. My Windows PC can see my Mac Mini, but it cannot access any shares. I'm guessing I need to authenticate somehow, but I'm not sure yet. I'll update if I find out how to get it working the other direction (from Windows to Mac).

Instructions:

1. Go to System Preferences -> Network -> Advanced -> WINS
2. Select or type in the workgroup name you want your Mac to join. Click OK & Apply.
3. Go to System Preferences -> Sharing
4. Check "File Sharing" then click "Options"
5. AFP should already be checked. Check SMB, and check the user you want to use for file sharing (You'll need to authenticate.) Click Done.
6. Restart Finder. To do this, hold the Option key down while clicking the Finder icon in the dock, and select Relaunch. (Or restart your Mac)
7. Now open Finder and you should see a section on the left pane titled "Shared" and under it, you should see your Windows PCs that are in the workgroup.
8. To connect, depending on which Windows OS the PC is running, you might simply be able to double click to get in. Otherwise, you'll need to authenticate to your Windows PC (I had to do this to connect to my Windows 7 beta laptop). To authenticate, first click the server in the left pane of the Finder. Click the "Connect As..." button in the upper right of the Finder. Log in using your Windows username and password. (make sure you have a folder shared on your Windows PC)

If all goes well, you should have access to your Windows PC shares.