IBM and Dell used to only accept their own branded mini-PCI wireless cards and wouldn't boot with a replacement non IBM/Dell branded one etc.
Other than that they're all interchangeable yes.
Funny thing; I have an IBM Thinkpad 390E - old old
ooooold 333mhz laptop from ca. 1998. So old it didn't have a wireless card built in. But it
did have an internal modem on a mini-pci slot, easily accessible from the outside of the laptop, behind it's own trap-door on the bottom of the unit, next to the RAM. I removed the modem and connecting cable and test-fit a much newer wireless nic from a ca. 2005 dead Sony Vaio.
Windows 2000 (which is what's running on the 390e) threw a fit about drivers, but yeah, the laptop booted up just fine and plays nicely with the card once the drivers are installed.
I need to tear the thing down and route an antenna wire through the LCD bezel and hinges into the internals of the laptop, but it works fine without it (insofar as Win2000 "sees" the card and will load drivers - needless to say reception isn't quite what it could be...!)
Point being, that slot had a 56k modem in it and now has a "this doesn't work with an IBM" wireless card in it. You never know until you try.
