| Serial Port: "This is the communications
port on your computer, also called
the COM
or RS-232 port. It's called serial
because
while it has nine pins and many
wires, the
PC sends data on only one wire
and receives
data on one other wire. All the
data bits
have to follow one another on
the single
wire, in contrast to the parallel
port, where
eight separate wires transfer
each bit of
a byte in parallel." --
CNet
Parallel Port: Also known as the Printer
Port. It is fairly fast, especially the second
version. This port transmits bytes (8 bits)
in "parallel". That's why it's
faster than the serial port. It's becoming
outmoded because the cable is "fat"
and it's hard to connect more than one or
two peripherals to it.
USB Port: Universal Serial Port. Designed
to allow connection of many peripherals to
one computer (if you expand the port with
a "hub").
High Speed USB 2 is forty times faster (480 Mbits/second)
than the old USB 1.1 (which is deceptively
called Full Speed and sometimes called Low Speed). Make sure you know how to tell the difference before you buy any "high speed"
peripherals, like external drives.
USB 2 may replace FireWire (IEEE 1394) as
the high speed serial connection to external
devices such as camcorders and disk drives.
Many new computers now have USB 2 ports.
They are backwards compatible with USB 1.1.
You can add USB 2 to most computers with
an interface card (which comes with the needed
software). In the second half of 2002 USB
2 will be incorporated in Intel chip sets,
and that will eliminate the need for an interface
card. In the not too distant future Service
Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows XP will be released.
It will add support for USB 2, but I don't
know if your existing USB 1.1 port will be
converted to USB 2, or if you'll still have
to add a card.
http://www.orangemicro.com/
http://www.usbman.com/
FireWire: This interface was introduced by
Apple. It's comparable with USB 2, and is
fairly high speed as indicated by the name.
It's popular for digital cameras.
Bluetooth: A wireless "port" that
allows you to connect PC perpherals without
cables. For example, keyboards, mice, digital
cameras and cell phones. They have a little
antenna instead. It was going to be incorporated
in Windows XP late in 2002. Now it won't
be. Maybe 2003? There are 3rd party Bluetooth
drivers though, for example, from in a kit
from 3com.
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