Thanks to another USB feature known as "hot-swapping" you don't even need to shut down and restart your PC to attach or remove a peripheral. Just plug it in and go! The PC automatically detects the peripheral and configures the necessary software. This feature is especially useful for users of multi-player games, as well as business and notebook PC users who want to share peripherals.

USB also lets you connect many peripherals at one time. Many USB PCs come with two USB ports. And special USB peripherals -- called USB hubs -- have additional ports that let you "daisychain" multiple peripherals (devices) together.

Another cool USB feature is that it distributes electrical power to many peripherals. Again, USB lets the PC automatically sense the power that's required and deliver it to the device. This interesting USB feature eliminates those clunky power supply boxes.

...previous feature  |  next feature...