Computex Taipei is finally over and done for 2010. A great event, with a lot of interesting electronics. It is clear the current semiconductor hotspot is here. From NAS systems to set-top-boxes, from cameras to phones, everything is packed together in Taipei or the nearby cities. In connection with Computex we did a joint press release with Microsoft on Tuxera exFAT for Linux.

The scenery in Taipei is unique. A quick escape from Taipei101 to Meokong for an afternoon tea shows everything from modern high-tech architecture to unreachable rainforest jungle in less than an hour. While it was raining almost every day I found the climate pleasant: warm but not too hot. You could walk with a T-shirt around the clock.

We decided CES is the right time to go public with our Windows CE work. The most common use case must be Windows CE powered set-top boxes and other consumer electronic devices with a USB plug. If I want to upload my videos and music from a portable NTFS-formatted hard drive into the box, it must read NTFS.

Another relevant market are cars, where Windows CE is gaining momentum. At CES, Microsoft had driven Fiats, Fords and Kias on their booth. Window CE is running the “infotainment” or entertainment systems in these cars. But what if I want plug in the car stereo my portable NTFS-formatted hard drive, which is full of MP3s? Yes, the system should read NTFS.

• ZD Net
• ZD Net UK
• H Online
• LWN
• Port25 at Microsoft
• OS news
• The Register
• Heise.de
• Linux Today
• Linux Magazin

Brief answers to frequently asked questions so far:

• The agreements do not allow us to distribute end-user or open source exFAT drivers for Linux. We are communicating with Microsoft and hope to do that in the near future. A solution is needed before exFAT becomes a de facto standard.
• The agreements do not change anything regarding NTFS drivers. We will continue to distribute and support NTFS-3G both under GPL and commercial licenses.

Spent this morning at Microsoft’s BizSpark event in Espoo.

It was a three hour session with a number of short talks and enthusiasm to get Microsoft partners to work and cooperate together. Keynote speaker was Petri I Salonen who runs IAMCP and TELLUS International in the US. A well motivated talk from a seasoned software entrepreneur.

I also explained Tuxera to Artur Surov from Technolopolis Ventures and I am going to pitch Tuxera again 10.9.2009 in their MoneyTalks event.

Overall it was a surprisingly lively morning event and also productive for us. It was nice to get direct feedback on who we are and what we do at Tuxera. I am confident we can find opportunities with other partners in the Microsoft ecosystem in the near future.

“I can’t believe we are here!”, Szabolcs remarked as soon as we had driven from the Seattle airport to Redmond and signed in to our mighty American-size hotel rooms. It was indeed a trip with a lot of preparation. Our talks with Microsoft had started almost a year ago when the company was founded. I had changed my role from an outside counsel to a company man sometime in March. First and foremost to get this deal done.

We came to Redmond to have an agreement, and in the end that is what we got. Three days of intensive meetings and talking — it was very impressive to see a big company work very effectively when they finally wanted to go for it while we were there.

After we had signed, someone from Microsoft asked: “Have we ever done a deal so quickly?” “I don’t think so,” was the answer.

A quick signature for a man, but a giant leap for the company.