Most USB devices are Plug-And-Play, and WinXP will find a driver appropriate to connect them. An appropriate driver is still needed, it's just that the WinXP setup includes, in the .CAB files, a collection of drivers it can usually use. The drivers didn't come with the Win98 package, so you had to get one from the device manufacturer. A few USB devices may still have unique requirements that the "generic" drivers in WinXP won't handle, so you may still get better performance with one from the device mfr - specific to the device. Most digital cameras, for example, work better with the camera mfr's driver than with a generic one. Most USB scanners require a specific driver that you need to get from the scanner mfr.

Common glitch #1: If the right driver isn't available before you boot with the USB device attached, WinXP will hook it up with whatever it "guesses" it should use. If you do need a device specific driver, you usually need to install the driver before you connect the device for the first time.

Common glitch #2: Each USB device should have its own "port." Quite a few newer machines may have more than one connector connected to a single port - front and back access to a single port is common. The 2-port, with each port having both front and back connectors (4 connectors total) often shows up. In better (higher priced) machines, each connector should be a separate port. You may get a couple of devices to share, if they're both plugged into the same port, but conflicts can be tough to resolve.

Also note that USB comes in multiple flavors. The older "plain vanilla" USB is pretty slow. USB-2 is "almost as fast as firewire." You can mix devices of these two kinds, but if you have to get accessories (like maybe a USB hub) you should make sure you get the later version. A new "super USB" spec is supposedly coming soon, but I haven't seen it on the shelf at my suppliers yet.

John