Well, it's one of the worst-kept secrets of 2002, but Microsoft is jumping into the wireless home networking hardware market this fall with a complete line of wired and wireless networking products. Entering such a crowded market might seem like a curious decision given the competition, but Microsoft had previously made a few networking technology bets that never really panned out, including the simpler networking user interface in Windows XP, and support for Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), which was first introduced with Windows Millennium Edition (Me). Today, home networking is easier than ever, but still too difficult for most people. And UPnP, once seen as the savior for networkable devices that could announce their presence and capabilities to other UPnP devices, like Windows PCs, has faltered in the market, thanks to slow (or non-existent) adoption by companies such as Linksys, Netgear, and D-Link. After pushing XP and UPnP technologies to these companies for years and seeing few positive results, Microsoft decided it was time to enter the market itself and give consumers a simpler solution. Its line of Microsoft Broadband Networking products is the result..