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I remember there was a time window where if you bought a new PC you got USB ports, but the Win95 OS couldn't do anything with them. In this time and a few year
by asveikau 7y ago
I remember there was a time window where if you bought a new PC you got USB ports, but the Win95 OS couldn't do anything with them.
In this time and a few years that followed, your typical PC motherboard had a few USB ports but also PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports and maybe a BIOS that did not accept USB keyboards out of the box. Actually I still have one motherboard that is like that.
- ChickeNES 7y agoGrowing up I had an Acer desktop from that era that had USB ports on the motherboard, but they were covered by a breakaway metal cover. Unfortunately I think my parents tossed it a few years back before I had the chance to see if I could get them to work.
- int_19h 7y agoWindows 95 only got USB support in a series of "supplement packs" in 1997. Win98 had that out of the box, but it was still missing some things that we take for granted now, such as generic UMS drivers. It wasn't until 2K that things were generally working well, and not until XP for most consumers. But PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports persisted for a long time. I remember it was still pretty common in late 00s, and the keyboard port specifically is still found today on some mainboards. It's not just a compatibility thing, though. For one thing, there was the N-key rollover issue with USB keyboards for a while. For another, enterprises like to lock out USB ports to prevent use of flash drives.