As PCs become more powerful, they are called on to tackle more chores that require a variety of peripheral devices, but options for connecting scanners, printers, phone systems, video cameras and other devices to computers have remained limited. Of a different color Often considered to be competing standards, FireWire and USB address different needs. Many users will need USB in the next few years, but only a few will find a good reason to install a FireWire port.
Important differences exist between the two standards.
Many PCs already ship with USB ports in place of older serial ports. FireWire, much faster than USB, excels at real-time or uncompressed multimedia applications. Since 1997, most PCs have included USB ports and Microsoft Windows operating systems that support USB peripherals. The Windows 95 OSR 2.1 release and all later releases provide native USB support. Such is not the case with FireWire, which is still an emerging technology.