Creating multi-platform CDs for software distribution

Question

This is not strictly programming related, but I hope still relevant.

I'm working on a project which is written in Java and intended for use on PCs and Macs. It will be distributed on CD (and perhaps DVD, eventually). Our intended audience is decidedly non-technical and, as such, it's important the CD "just work" when it's loaded.

This is not itself difficult. For Windows, we can setup Autorun to automatically launch the app and, for Mac, we can use special folder formatting to make it clear what the user should do.

The hitch is that we would like to ship one disc which could be used on either a Mac or a PC. I have seen some rather byzantine methods of accomplishing this with specific, proprietary software. Hopefully, this is not the only way to accomplish this.

So my question: How do I create a CD to distribute software so that the CD will function, perform or appear "native" when opened on both a Mac and a PC?

Answer 1

There are a lot of tools that can burn CDs or create CD images thats readable natively on both Mac and PC.

Try MacImage for example

Answer 2

You can use mkisofs or mkhybrid to crate a "hybrid" CD image.