Microsoft will support the USB 3.0 in Windows 8
An original USB 3.0 software stack for Windows 8 is being built by Microsoft, which could support USB 3.0 in the competition against Thunderbolt.
The Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system will be equipped a software stack in order to support devices based on the USB 3.0 connection. USB 3.0 is in the competition with Intel’s Thunderbolt.
USB 3.0 is the innovatory edition of USB 2.0 standard which can transfer data 10 times faster between computers and external devices such as cameras and storage devices than usual. Most laptops and desktops today are equipped with USB 2.0 ports. USB 3.0 ports are being offered by many PC manufacturers as an option. The current Windows 7 OS does not have the original USB 3.0 support. With an aim to offer products which are compatible with Operating System, many device producers provide the drivers.
The increasing support for USB 3.0 and wide usage of USB 2.0 was a compelling reason to improve the USB software stack, according to Dennis Flanagan, Microsoft's director of program management. "By 2015, all new PCs are expected to offer USB 3.0 ports, and over 2 billion new 'SuperSpeed' USB devices will be sold in that year," Flanagan wrote.
A new Microsoft’s software stack and controller for Windows 8 are written based on the "design principles" of USB 3.0. They will support plug-and-play method for the new devices such as external storage, webcams and keyboards, Flanagan wrote. In order to support the older USB devices, the existing software stack will be still retained.
USB 3.0 transfers data at the maximum speed of 5Gbit/second. However, it is still slower than the transfer speed of rival connection technology of Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt is a technology developed by Intel which can transfer data at speed up to 10 gigabits per second. Thunderbolt has been considered as an alternative to USB 3.0 because it currently supports the PCI Express and DisplayPort protocols. The outstanding feature of this connection is that it does not require any OS support except for the existing software stacks for those protocols.
But Microsoft's support will aid the fast growth of USB 3.0 and provide higher transfer speeds for consumer devices, said Jim McGregor, the research director at In-Stat.
Tags:microsoftusb 3.0windows 8
