I love the sound bugs make when you squish them under a solution.

AlexP, whose blog is also a great source for multitouch and the Sony PS3 Eye Camera and Windows drivers we used in the recent hackday, has been diagnosing his MacBook under Windows Vista. Hardware problems are often the source of sound blips on computers. I’ve talked previously about using the DPC Latency Checker to find this issue.

The good news: Alexander has found the problem (the Broadcom Wireless Adapter in some Apple MacBooks) and a solution (switching off Windows’ automatic wireless network search when you don’t need it). I actually wonder if a similar problem was culpable in early problems with network WiFi on Mac OS X Leopard. Whatever is going on, check out the fix here if you’re encountering this problem. And let us know if you’re seeing this on machines other than just the MacBook revision F; I’d imagine any PC with a similar wireless adapter might have the issue:

MacBook Rev. F Audio Skipping in Vista Analysis and Solution – Part 2

And yes, hardware/driver problems may frequently manifest as what Windows terms DPCs – basically, a symptom of hardware usage that can interfere with reliable audio performance. I’m curious whether WiFi connections specifically may be a cause in other cases. The problem is almost certainly not limited to computers from Apple – especially since, in this case, the MacBook is just behaving like any PC laptop with similar specs.

I’m too scared to install BootCamp on my on-loan MacBook Pro, so I’ll leave it to the pros to tell me the whole story. For the most extensive, readable info on this yet, we can turn to the good people at Macworld:

Windows on Mac: What you need to know

XP-on-Mac benchmarks (Let me give away the ending: Macs running Windows win.)

You’ll want to read Macworld’s FAQ, because there are important caveats, like remapping the keys on your MacBook Pro. But in short, could you Windows users make your next machine a Mac, while still hanging onto Windows-only apps like Audition and Cakewalk SONAR? Absolutely. And could Mac users use this as a way to get access to Windows-only software? For sure.

But we won’t stop there: here are some of the questions intrepid CDMers want to know. First off, we know from Apple that you can’t use upgrade CDs, as are included with many PCs, meaning you could be spending as much as $250 for your copy of Windows. Could you surf over to newegg.com for a fresh OEM copy of Windows XP and save yourself $100 or more? Apparently, though if you really care about legality you might want to contact your lawyer to explain the licensing terms there, because I don’t get it. (Or search your soul. Or just go get it and don’t worry about it — just don’t say I sent you.)

OEM discussion on Ars Technica (which makes the legality as clear as mud, but at least suggests OEM Windows will work)

Now, don’t get me wrong: there’s some Windows software I adore, like the brilliant software from Cakewalk. But the Windows XP OS itself is not exactly on my “Dreamiest Operating Systems” list. So you’ll be happy to know that you can finally install Intel Linux distributions like Gentoo using BootCamp, with some extra effort, as explained here:

Triple Boot Instructions (onmac Wiki)

The buzz on the CDM forums suggests at least some of you are interested in this. It certainly solves the problem for some people of having to have two machines, one Mac and one PC. Apple will certainly want to protect their hardware profits, so I don’t think we’ll ever see Mac OS on PC hardware. But the flexibility here is great news, if you want to take advantage of it.

Me? I’m sticking to separate PCs and Macs for the time being.

Here’s the next question: will you be able to run music applications? Believe it or not, signs point to yes.

Updated:

Check out the excellent hands-on from the Wall Street Journal, and an installation video linked from Gizmodo. But what we want to test is real-time audio performance and drivers; more impressions after the jump.

Apple has included all the necessary drivers for their hardware, so you can even run the built-in audio card — not a bad option, given that could incorporate digital ins and outs. Unfortunately, while I do have an Intel Mac on loan, I don’t have a bona fide full XP install disc (just an upgrade disc), so I can’t try this myself. It’d be fun to boot into XP to work on cross-platform Max/MSP development, or load up SONAR, or a number of Windows-only instruments.

Will this actually be of use to anyone? Apple’s hope is likely that would-be Windows-to-Mac switchers will try Apple hardware for a smoother transition. And it certainly lets you squeeze more value out of Apple hardware if you’re a cross-platform type longing for an Intel Mac.

To me, this isn’t terribly exciting news, because it gives Mac users the worst part of the PC experience (namely, Windows) while leaving out the best part (namely, PC hardware choice and DIY systems). I still dream of building my own Mac hardware, though I think it’s highly unlikely given that Apple was burned in the 90s when they opened up the platform to clones. Their business is hardware profits; this move reflects that again. What I would like to see next is the ability to dual-boot Linux on Mac hardware; the PowerPC Macs have been left out of some of the nicest distros.

In the meantime, I’m grabbing my binoculars and doing some flying pig watching. You don’t see that every day.