The companies are touting the devices as the next generation of existing smart drives, which can store and launch applications as well as data.
They will replace SanDisk’s current U3 smart drives, which already enable users to carry Windows apps, email and a web browser, as well as their personal data.
The new drives, however, will also include a customized interface and promise users the same personal computing environment on any machine as they have on their own desktop, according to its creators.
The goal is to give users a consistent and portable computing experience, said SanDisk VP of mobile business and corporate engineering Yoram Cedar, in a statement.
Microsoft and SanDisk said they would share hardware and software intellectual property to create the technology, which likely will appear on SanDisk’s flash memory cards and Cruzer USB flash drives during the second half of next year.
The new products, which will be geared for Windows XP and Vista OS, will allow hardware manufacturers to better differentiate their products, said a Microsoft VP Will Poole.
They also will boast beefed-up security from TrustedFlash, which SanDisk said would protect user files from malware on shared computers.
SanDisk also said it would continue to support U3 technology, which was the result of a joint venture between SanDisk and m-systems before SanDisk acquired the company in late 2006.
