USB
Short for Universal Serial Bus, a new external bus standard that supports data transfer rates of 12 Mbps (12 million bits per second). A single USB port can be used to connect up to 127 peripheral devices, such as mice, modems, and keyboards. USB also supports Plug-and-Play installation and hot plugging. Starting in 1996, a few computer manufacturers started including USB support in their new machines. Since the release of Intel's 440LX chipset in 1997, USB has become more widespread. It is expected to eventually completely replace serial and parallel ports.
Stands for "Universal Serial Bus." It's sort of the latest fad in computer ports. If you want, you can use it to replace your mouse, keyboard, serial, parallel, and game ports. In fact, you can daisy chain 127 peripherals to a single USB port and use them all at once. USB is also faster than older ports, supporting data transfer rates of up to 12Mb/sec. Though it was introduced in 1997, the technology didn't really take off until the introduction of the Apple iMac (late 1998) which uses USB ports exclusively. Kinda funny, considering USB was created and designed by Intel, Compaq, Digital, and IBM. Now USB has become a widely-used cross-platform interface for both Macs and PCs.
