Stupid PC design and thoughtless designers
Some legacy parts of the PC are obviously a bit log in the tooth, (like the 640K ram, serial and printer ports etc) but due to the nature and backwards compatibility of the platform they are a necessity to avoid problems. To be honest, the whole PC platform needs a complete reboot and redesign, but we know that isn't going to happen.
Take for instance PS2 keyboards and mice vs the preferred USB alternatives today. I personally think there is nothing wrong with PS2 devices - they are dedicated interfaces that do the job without any CPU overhead and are fast enough to handle the slow and low bandwidth of a keyboard and a mouse - but they've fallen out of fashion. So be it, as long as it doesn't cause problems. Or will it?
I just went round someones house to help them get their PC back up and running - they have a USB keyboard and mouse. Always bought PS2 myself, as they work and never caused me an issue in 15 years.
Still change is upon us, and these things have been around since Windows 98SE days - surely everything is smooth on both the hardware and software (read Microsoft Windows) side. Went into bios, made sure legacy/DOS support was on for USB mouse and keyboard and began installing from their Windows disk.
Low and behold, the DOS menu part worked, but as soon as Windows entered the blue screen setup phase the keyboard died. Turns out you need an SP2 disk or newer to install a clean Windows installation if you have a USB keyboard or mouse. Oh look, their install CD is an older version....Hmmm.
Great. No problem I have PS2 keyboard at home.....came back and....low and behold, no PS2 connectors on the actual computer. Great. Saving a few pence, some idiot designer has failed to see what rubbing out the "old" PS2 connectors will do because surely no one uses them anymore.
A few hours and a slipstreamed SP2 XP disk burnt on my home PC later, and I eventually get the thing installed!
Right, I'm off to watch the footie....