If you do not intend to take advantage of USB 2's faster data transfers - then the question is moot. I have both USB 1.1 devices, USB 2 devices, and Firewire devices. My new scanner is USB 2 and really easy to use. It would not work as quickly with USB 1.1. My camera downloads into Firewire. My CD/RW burner is Firewire, and I have a Firewire external HDD. My Wacom pad is USB 1.1, but it works fine from my USB 2 hub. I also have a USB 2 reader/writer for digital media to include SmartMedia, CompactFlash, and SecureData. Now with SP1 applied, XP has native USB 2 capability, and that is nice.