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.