Cards on multiple platforms--& their add-ons, permutations & complications.

Question

hi there.
i am having a dreadful time trying to network a mac & a pc. there are numerous variables, any of which make things even more confusing. all we want to do is connect both machines to the internet via my imac, my airport & our att dsl line. no go. no idea. the specs are these:
hardware/software
_mine, which runs the base station_
• imac 6,1 running 10.5.4
• wireless card: *AirPort Extreme*, 0x14E4, 0x87-->these numbers are beyond me but included if anyone needs them; firmware version: BCM43xx 1.0-->more numbers, ibid, can post if needed.
• wireless device: *AirPort Express*, initially for a different imac, this was bought a few months previous to the purchase of my current imac. the software has been updated to the current version, 5.3.2/532.8
i do run filevault.
i usually run my machine w/ heavy security. however, due to the networking issue, i am running it, as they say, insecure, although i so dont like to do this. no security businesses, more or less, has helped one iota.
this machine needs to communicate w/:
_his, which doesnt run the base station_
• *HP Media Center PC*, bought a year ago last january. i wish i could tell you the model number; however, its owner is so frustrated w/ being unable to be networked that, at this particular moment, i do not want to ask. i can ask later, as needed, redux.
• this pc runs two harddrives. it also runs *windows xp professional* as, at the time of purchase & perhaps to this day, far too many of the programs & externals the musician who owns it needs to run are not compatible w/ windows vista. this, itself, has been a long, long nightmare--one which perhaps contributes to the abovenoted frustration.
• wireless card: *linksys WMP300N*. as for driver version-->ibid re pc model number--aka--i know not. however, i have read that there is a problem in general w/ networking linksys & airports. i have not, however, read or at least understood, how to fix this problem.
• there are many externals attached to this machine--from keyboards for not only typing but for playing like a piano, along w/ pro-tools interfaces, etc & ect. i do not think these complicate the networking issue.
then again, i am so lost i could be completely, um, wrong.
that would be about it for the hard, the soft, the firm, etc & ect, redux redux.
okay.
1/ +how in h-e-double-toothpicks do i get these two computers to communicate w/ one another?+
i have no problem whatsoever using my airport w/ my imac. i am typing to you via its interactions w/ our dsl line.
he of the pc, otoh, cannot even see it--not my mac, not the network-->zip zilch zed nil. the house network does not appear in his list of networks. i should say that once it did, but only for a second, then sank sans trace & has yet to surface.
we live in an industrial area near mid-city los angeles. one would not think koreatown housed any many blocks where people worked but where nobody lived--but if we did not live in our place above a factory, this would, in fact, be true. therefore there are no other wireless networks for his pc to see--nor my mac. but my mac sees my airport & its network fine. it has every time i have reset/reconfigured it-->problem-free.
2/ +are there problems getting macs & pcs to see one another over an airport?+
2a/ if so, what do i do about it?
2b/ if not, & it is the linksys card, what do i do about that?
3/ +is there any software that will ameliorate my communications problem or must i go out & buy another router?+
i had no problem networking a mac & pc over our last wireless router--i did, however, have a serious nightmare when its virtual wireless walls were hacked. i do not look forward to buying another wireless router, although we have moved from density to metaphorical concrete desert so its hacking shouldnt really be a consideration.
i am sorry for extraneous information. i wasnt certain what was necessary so threw in what i thought might even be slightly important. it was the writer in me that included possibly too much scene-setting. it is also probably the writer in me who cannot begin to comprehend how to fix this whole business. i apologize greatly for my confusion.
w/ much thanks in advance for any help,
please,
sign me,
lost

Answer 1

Adele,
The new connection method for reducing the amount of memory used is only available with 2007A.  You are correct that the first add-on to connect with take the 50 - 60 Meg of RAM, but subsequent add-ons will take ~1.5 Meg assuming that all add-ons are using the new connection method for the DI API.  This means that ALL add-ons must use the new connection method to receive the memory benefits.
The SDK Help Center documentation for 2007A covers this topic.  It does require a change to your code, but it is minor.
HTH,
Eddy