Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 14.14. Using a HWA and DWA to wirelessly connect traditional wired USB devices to a
system.
Unfortunately, while WUSB sounds promising, market support has been lacking, although some
WUSB adapters and peripherals did appear on the market in 2006. In 2008, Lenovo began including
WUSB in select ThinkPad laptops, and Kensington released a WUSB docking station. Since then,
however, there have been very few other WUSB adapters or peripherals on the market.
Windows USB Support
The first version of Windows to support USB properly was Windows 98. Although it is true that
Windows 95B and 95C did have limited support for USB 1.1, many USB devices would not work
with Windows 95 releases because the drivers available for 95B and 95C were limited in capability.
It wasn't until Windows 98 appeared that you could say Windows fully supported USB. Windows 98
had USB 1.1 support built in; however, support for USB 2.0 requires additional drivers from the
motherboard or host adapter provider.
USB 2.0 support was not included in the initial release of Windows XP but was included with
Service Pack 1 and later updates. Windows Vista, 7, and 8 include support for USB 2.0, and
Windows 8 includes support for USB 3.0 as well. USB 3.0 devices can be used with Windows 7 and
earlier by installing the drivers for the particular controller you are using, which may be either on a
card or built in to the motherboard. Individual USB devices might also include their own drivers,
which might need to be installed separately.
USB support is also required in the basic input/output system (BIOS) for devices such as keyboards
and mice. This is included in all systems with USB ports built in. Aftermarket PC Cards and
ExpressCards are available for adding USB to older systems that don't include it as standard. USB
peripherals include printers, external storage, modems, scanners, VoIP telephones, game controllers,
