I am currently having the same issue on a mac and wondering if any of you came to any solutions? The local host does not resolve. (but the responder starts and I can ping the IP address)
I was also following this guide https://tttapa.github.io/ESP8266/Chap08%20-%20mDNS.html and have searched extensively for solutions but am yet to find one...
Any advice would be amazing! Thanks! x