USB : Overview    USB Facts of Life  

USB defines various Classes of commonly used devices and Interfaces, such as Printers, Cameras, Audio devices, Mass Storage devices, and Human Interface Devices.

Many of these USB classes require you to write a custom Windows device driver, to enable the PC to communicate with your device. Writing a Windows device driver is a difficult, complex, time consuming, and frankly, risky undertaking.

Frankly, even using a USB class that requires a custom device driver is a risky undertaking:

Requiring your end users to install device drivers is more complex, and some customers will invariably run into trouble.  When they do, they will call your company's Tech Support number. This will cost your company money.

When new versions of the PC operating system are rolled out, your custom device driver is likely to fail, leaving your end users unable to use your device.  For example, device drivers supplied by one major microcontroller company were unable to work with Windows Vista for 9 months. Is that what you want to subject your company to?

 

 
  

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