Mac Mini on network with Windows PCs?

Hi- newbie here, so be gentle :headphone

I am seriously thinking of entering the world of Mac via a nice little Mac Mini.

However, I have two PCs, one running Windows XP, the other running Linux. These are wired into a network along with my partner's laptop (running XP) connecting wirelessly.

My query- I realise the Mini has an ethernet port but will it be happy running on the same network as Windows and Linux PCs? Will I be able to use the existing net connection my router uses? Will I be able to share files between the various machines? Will the Mac Mini be able to 'see' the printer?

Many thanks in advance!

When I purchased my mac mini I tried to connect it to my network (wired through the ethernet cable) and it seem to knock the interent connection out (especially if I turned the mac on first). Then I connected the mac mini wireless through airport and haven't had a problem yet. My network is only for the internet so i am not sure if it will work with the printer, I am still trying to figure that little problem out myself.

For me, I have a D-Link DI524 wireless router, set up to not require a password (After having some conflicts with my Mini and it, I resorted to MAC Address filtering, which has little to do with Macs). The internet works wonderfully with it.

Now, as for working with other computers, I have a Linux/Windows dual-booted (Wired), a Windows laptop (Wireless), and the mac Mini (Wireless). Sharing files has been quite easy, and is something I do on a regular basis. I've had a couple of issues using it with my Linux box, but that would be on its end. Through Windows, no problems whatsoever. (Note, however, that I usually connect to it directly, using (through Linux) smb://192.168.0.103/<username>, or (through Windows) \\192.168.0.103\<username>, I can't remember how well it works through exploring the network)

Now, printers, I've had a couple of issues with this, but only with drivers. To use it on the Mini, I needed to install GutenPrint drivers, and I needed to install the drivers for it on my laptop, so it can use it correctly. On Linux, I haven't really bothered trying after I last formatted it when trying a new distro.

But that aside, I have been able to turn on the Mini, and print through it over the network, no problems. I just had to set up the Mini to allow for remote printing (It's under the System preferences, under "Sharing", if I recall correctly), and set up my laptop to print to it.

Going the other way, I'm not entirely sure, both for sharing and for printing, because I've yet to have a reason to try. I just use the Mac as a print server because it's close to the printer, and has a consistent OS, unlike my Linux box, which could be Windows or Linux.

I hope this helps.