Microsoft to Natively Support USB 3.0 in Windows 8

Since the introduction of USB 3.0, we have needed to install third-party drivers in Windows in order to have the ports function, which for obvious reasons hasn’t been ideal. On the newly-launched Windows 8 developer blog, we’re told that this problem will cease to exist with the release of Microsoft’s next OS, with native USB 3.0 support out of the box.

In this blog post, the company posts a couple of trend graphs for USB 3.0 that are quite interesting. According to In-Stat, USB 3.0 ownership kicked off 2011 at under 5% but has steadily risen to about 30% today. By 2013, about 95% of PCs sold will come equipped with USB 3.0, and by 2015, that number is set to reach 100%.

Device-wise, about 400,000 USB 3.0 products are expected to be purchased during 2012, and by 2015, that number will skyrocket to 2,000,000. Interestingly, it doesn’t appear as though USB 2.0 will die off anytime soon, as even in 2015, 2.0 devices will still continue to outsell 3.0.

With the staggering growth that USB 3.0 is expected to experience, it’s no surprise that Microsoft wants to make sure its Windows 8 OS supports the technology in full. In its blog post, there’s a rather in-depth USB history given, and also assurance that Microsoft is taking its USB 3.0 support seriously.

While I don’t agree with the fact that the blog post makes it sound like USB 3.0 isn’t available in any form today (the included video even states, “USB 3.0 is coming to a PC near you”), I do like the fact that the company is devoted to making sure its solution is as good as can be.