I have a
legacy-free motherboard. It's not totally legacy-free
as it still has a floppy drive controller but what it does lack are
serial,
COM and PS/2 ports.
The reasons to change to a legacy-free computing world:
- Less legacy ports mean more USB ports. Before I went legacy-free I was
forever running out of USB ports, now I have 8 USB ports to play about with.
More than I need for my mouse, keyboard, mp3 player, digital camera,
etc.
- Better future compatibility. Legacy-free motherboards usually come with
USB 2.0 and Firewire as standard. My board even came with 4 RAID connectors,
meaning I could potentially attach 12 IDE devices to it!
The reaons not to change to a legacy free computer world:
- Ownership of legacy free devices. When I upgraded I had to buy a new keyboard,
not a big deal really. Luckily I already owned a USB printer and I don't connect
to the internet via a modem through this computer. However, if I did,
I could have used a USB or PCI hardware modem (yes, they do exist!).
- Expense. The only legacy-free motherboards on the market at the moment are
the Abit boards and they are at least 50% more expensive than a non-legacy
board, although this is probably down to the exta RAID connectors, on-board
5.1 sound with digital output, on-board LAN, etc.
- Cheap USB/Fireward PCI cards. What's the point of getting rid of all these
potentially useful legacy-port when you can add a PCI and have the best of
both worlds?
I think the question of performance is a false one. The differences are minimal
and the benchmarks have proved that the Abit legacy-free boards
are among the fastest on the market today.
Whether to go legacy-free is down to personal preference. I expect one day
everyone will use legacy-free computers, even if it's not exactly necessary
at the present time.