computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...

, a legacy port is a computer port or connector that is considered by some to be fully or partially superseded.''definition of legacy from Oxford Dictionaries Online''
/ref> The replacement ports usually provide most of the functionality of the legacy ports with higher speeds, more compact design, or

plug and play In computing, a plug and play (PnP) device or computer bus is one with a specification that facilitates the recognition of a hardware component in a system without the need for physical device configuration or user intervention in resolving reso ...

and

hot swap Hot swapping is the replacement or addition of components to a computer system without stopping, shutting down, or rebooting the system. Hot plugging describes only the addition of components to a running computer system. Components which ha ...

capabilities for greater ease of use. Modern PC

motherboard A motherboard, also called a mainboard, a system board, a logic board, and informally a mobo (see #Nomenclature, "Nomenclature" section), is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expandable systems. It ho ...

s use separate Super I/O controllers to provide legacy ports, since current

chipset In a computer system, a chipset is a set of electronic components on one or more integrated circuits that manages the data flow between the processor, memory and peripherals. The chipset is usually found on the motherboard of computers. Chips ...

s do not offer direct support for them. A category of computers called legacy-free PCs omits these ports, typically retaining only

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

for external expansion. USB adapters are often used to provide legacy ports if they are required on systems not equipped with them.

Common legacy ports

References

Computer buses Legacy hardware {{compu-hardware-stub

Common legacy ports

See also

References