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Microsoft Corp.´s next-generation operating system will be limited in its support of USB 2.0 when the initial release hits the shelves later this year. But Windows XP will find a way to support the bus standard, the software giant said this week.

Microsoft is considering a number of options for getting the USB 2.0 software on the market in tandem with the Windows XP release, said Carl Stork, general manager of Microsoft´s Windows Division. "How that USB 2.0 software is shipped in the final version of XP, we don´t know," he said. "It could be shipped and turned on by default if suddenly a wave of hardware hits Redmond. It could be that we ship it but turn it off by default. Or it could be that we choose to distribute it through Windows later."

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