USB stands for Universal Serial Bus, but don't let that confuse you. In the early days of computers you could usually only attach peripherals like printers and scanners using parallel or serial ports. These were OK - but a bit slow. USB was designed to speed everything up and to be easier to use.

Drivers - In theory USB devices don't need drivers - the computer auto-detects the device as soon as you attach it. In practice this isn't always so and most USB devices come with installation discs.

Devices that commonly use USB are digital cameras, printers, scanners, memory card readers, mice, keyboards, MP3 Players and modems. Less common are things like capture cards (video grabbers), floppy disc drives, speakers and headphones.

Windows XP can be a problem for some devices, but manufacturer's are usually very quick about posting new drivers on their web sites.

USB 1 and USB 2 - we've all been happily using USB 1 (or USB 1.1) for some years now, but in the nature of computers, improvement is here. USB 1.1 sends data at 12 megabytes a second, which is pretty damn fast. Yet USB 2 sends data at up to 480 megabytes a second. This forty times faster transfer rate opens up all kinds of possibilities. USB 2 is downwardly compatible (so it will handle USB 1.1) but your old USB equipment and cable won't manage USB 2.

Firewire is not USB, although it is very similar. Firewire, which is also known as IEEE 1394 and I-LINK, was developed by Apple and is built into their computers. It also works perfectly well with Windows and Linux PCs and has a big following due to its fast transfer speeds and hot plug and play features. This means you can plug it in and use it without needing to reboot the computer. Firewire is one of the fastest peripheral standards ever developed. Transferring data at up to 400Mbps, Firewire delivers more than 30 times the bandwidth of the USB 1.1 peripheral standard. It's used for all the things that USB is used for and is especially well used for external hard drives and digital camcorders.

USB and Firewire (and now USB 2), have rapidly become the connections standards of choice for a whole range of computer peripherals and devices. Quickly as people realised just what they could do with USB, USB 2 and Firewire they began to run out of USB or Firewire ports on their computers.

The first common peripheral was the USB Hub. This is simply a way of turning one USB port into several. Of course this was closely followed by the Firewire Hub and the USB 2 Hub. USB 2.0 and Firewire hubs are self powered. This means that you have to plug them into mains electricity. Some USB hubs also have this although the early ones were powered from the computer (through the bus connection). Self powered hubs are faster and much better for laptop or notebook computer use.

As people realised the potential of all this (especially USB 2 and Firewire) they wanted to add USB 2 and Firewire connectivity to their computers. You can do this quite simply by adding a USB 2 or Firewire PCI card or PCMCIA adapter to your machine. There are even PCI cards available that offer both USB 2 and Firewire ports. These ports can be external or a combination of internal and external ports.

Another development was the addition of fast USB 2 Memory Card Readers. As Memory Cards such as CompactFlash, SmartMedia, Memorystick and SecureDigital got larger (in MB terms) the need arose for faster readers and writers. So USB 2.0 Memory Card Readers and Writers became common.

All this needs to be connected with USB 2 leads (older USB 1.1 leads will work but only at the old slower speed, these leads are now a lot cheaper than they used to be). This does not mean that USB 1.1 is dead. In fact there are some new and interesting developments such as a lead that connects two computers together using their USB ports allowing them to form a network with out the need for special network PCI cards or Cat5e or Cat6 cables. This USB Network Lead is a major step forwards in PC connectivity.

Another growing use for USB is the USB Removable Drive. These little pen shaped drives can be used to back up data or move data from computer to computer easily. There are several versions, some are complete units while others use SecureDigital memory cards. There are both USB and USB 2 options and typical memory sizes range from 128MB up to 1GB.

There are a whole load of other USB accessories that can be connected such as USB Notebook Computer Lights and USB Ethernet Adapters. Perhaps one of the most interesting uses for USB is in USB Audio - with devices that allow you to play or record MP3 files directly from your computer onto a MiniDisc Recorder or direct to your Hi-fi. Devices such as mice, keyboards, headphones and video grabbers will continue to ensure that until something better arrives one day (as it always does) USB, Firewire and USB 2 will rule.