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Microsoft To Make Wireless Networking Hardware
traskjd writes "Microsoft are looking to increase their strength in the hardware market with wireless and conventional networking hardware according to this story on cnet. Microsoft has always been slow at moving into the hardware market... could they be testing the waters for making things like switches and routers in the future? Lets hope not..." There's also a Reuters article. There was a story last year that mentioned Microsoft was working on Win-WiFi - 802.11b hardware that exported some of the processing to the CPU in much the same manner as a winmodem, and thus was cheaper to produce. These stories don't mention anything about that, so probably these are conventional 802.11b devices.
Microsoft is going to put out another product. Or replace the TP in their corporate bathrooms with 2-ply.
So I get to watch idiotic, paranoid and delusional comments get modded up to +5.
"Oh no they're going to use 802.11 to conquer the world. They're persecuting linux users and sending them to death camps, or forcing them to toil in the underground salt mines."
So what if they want to sell peripherals? They can sell beowulf clusters full of hot grits, for all I care.
Noone gets this paranoid when another large company with dominance in one market announces a new product line. I didn't see anyone get freaked out when Sony announced its Vaio line. "Oh my god! They're going to use the power of playstation to strip my rights away and kill baby kittens."
Diversifying is what companies do to ensure future profitibility. It's foolish to leave all of your eggs in one basket.
Big fat hairy deal. Take a deep breath and join us in the real world, the weathers fine.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
re. 1: Logitech currently has a proprietary version of WEP that is 128 bit, because there is no current standard for highly secure WEP. I am sure Microsoft will follow suit with their own proprietary exclusive WEP, although for different reasons.
re. 2: Microsoft probably has an exclusive manufacturing deal with a provider such that the only way to get a Microsoft type mouse is through Microsoft. Outsourcing like this is done for many thing; IBM manufacturers PowerPC chips, yet they are called Motorola. It is still a Motorola PC, because Motorola owns the schematics. The exclusivity deal of Microsoft's no doubt is functionally and legally equivalent to Motorola's IBM fab deal. This allows Microsoft and Motorola to choose different manufacturers for "their" products.
they could access you're network anytime.
It's your, and not you're. Learn that they're different.
your - belonging to you
you're - you are. (just as in learn that they're different)
--gera.
-- All true wisdom is found on T-shirts.
OMG, a grammatical error on the internet!
On Slashdot none the less!
I don't know how I'll be able to live with myself...
Find something more useful to do with YOUR time.