compatibility of keyboard and accessories with XP.

Are there any keyboards (or for that matter mice or speakers or most
other accessories) that won't work with winXP if they work with 7 or 8
or 10?

This wireless keyboard, as noted at the bottom of the webpage, starts at
7, but that's no reason to think it doesn't work with XP is it. (I
dont' especially want this one, but the next keyboard might be the same
way and I want to get it straight.

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/produc...0-plus?crid=26

On Sat, 15 Aug 2015 22:11:30 -0400, micky
wrote:

Are there any keyboards (or for that matter mice or speakers or most
other accessories) that won't work with winXP if they work with 7 or 8
or 10?

It all depends on whether someone (usually the manufacturer or
Microsoft) has provided a driver for the device that is compatible
with the operating system.

--
Remove del for email

micky wrote:

Are there any keyboards (or for that matter mice or speakers or most
other accessories) that won't work with winXP if they work with 7 or 8
or 10?

A USB keyboard is a USB keyboard is a USB keyboard ad nauseum - unless
you want the ancilliary software that adds more functions to the
keyboard. Windows XP, and later, already include USB drivers for
generic USB devices enumerated as keyboards. You never mentioned if you
were asking about desktop or laptops. Laptops sometimes come with
maker-supplied software as part of their pre-installed bundle to assign
macros to keys to provide what are standard functions on desktop
keyboards. Since the transceiver dongle for a wireless keyboard is a
USB device, it's a USB keyboard.

A PS/S keyboard is ... you get the idea. Again, you can attach a PS/2
keyboard and it works since Windows supports legacy keyboards. No point
in wasting a USB port if you have a PS/2 port, plus USB keyboards (that
use USB polling) are not as fast as PS/2 keyboards (that use
interrupts). You'll find gaming keyboards are often PS/2 variants not
only because they are faster but also because more keys can be assigned
as gaming keys; i.e., more keys can be concurrently pressed on a PS/2
gaming keyboard without hearing the beep that tells you too many keys
are concurrently pressed for a USB keyboard.

A USB mouse is ... again, you get the idea. Windows already includes
generic enumeration support for USB mice (aka HID devices).

A PS/2 mouse is ... again, it's a generic device. Windows already
supports PS/2 mice although many computer makers have started to omit
the PS/2 ports. For those computers, PS/2 keyboards and PS/2 mice are
not an option unless you specifically buy keyboards or mice that say
they support both hardware protocols; i.e., the keyboard or mouse must
come with an adapter AND the keyboard or mouse must also contain
internal logic to detect the port type to which it is connected and
switch to that hardware protocol.

The computer doesn't even know what [powered] external speakers you
connect to a desktop. Speakers on a laptop are also not directly
visible to the OS. The audio adapter (usually onboard these days unless
you buy a daughtercard to add to a desktop, but laptops don't have slots
to upgrade their audio chips) is what the OS sees. The OS can alter the
connector arrangment for some audio chips but only if the chips support
it. If you looking for more than a 2.1 setup then you may need to
ensure there is drivers and software to let you define or change the
audio configuration.

This wireless keyboard, as noted at the bottom of the webpage, starts at
7, but that's no reason to think it doesn't work with XP is it. (I
dont' especially want this one, but the next keyboard might be the same
way and I want to get it straight.

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/produc...0-plus?crid=26

That one uses a USB dongle for the transceiver. It can never be used on
a PS/2 port (unless you want to spend more money on an active USB-to-PS2
converter than the wireless keyboard costs). The wireless keyboard via
wifi USB dongle will be seen as a USB device. It will be listed in
Device Management (devmgmt.msc) under Keyboards - HID device (HID =
Human Interface Device). A generic driver (probably a mini-driver which
is often just a text file with definitions on how to interface with the
device) gets used. They say:

Designed for use with Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 and later

That means their ancilliary software may not run under Windows XP.
There may be OS functions or libs (e.g., .Net Framework) that their
software requires in the later versions of Windows. If you don't use
their software, some keyboard functions won't work. You need their
macro software to interpret the scan codes to emulate a full[er]
keyboard. Some functions will work, like those supported by the
embedded generic USB keyboard provided by Windows. With just the
generic USB keyboard support, you might lose the audio keys (mute,
up/down volume, play, forward, reverse), the function keys, and very
probably the touchpad and its buttons.

Of course, they could transmit standard scancodes so the wireless
keyboard looks like a standard USB keyboard. They could also separately
handle the touchpad as a USB device. You would see two HID devices in
Device Mgmt: the USB keyboard and the USB mouse. Asking Logitech if
*any* software comes with their product would indicate whether software
was required to provide full support of all keys and the touchpad. If
they do not provide any software then their device behaves like standard
HID devices (USB keyboard and USB mouse), and if no software is involved
to support their product then it should be usable back in Windows XP
using its standard HID device support.

Newegg has some pics for that product at http://tinyurl.com/qeuh44z.
They don't show any optical media (CD/DVD) for installation. So it's
likely this product uses no ancilliary software. It just looks like a
USB keyboard and USB mouse to the OS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z9kIZ_vKnU

That doesn't show any software comes with the product. Reinforces that
it simply appears to the OS as HID devices via USB.

Youtube has lots of reviews on this product. Go watch them at:

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...eyboard%20K400

Ooh, lookie he

http://support.logitech.com/product/...-keyboard-k400

Windows XP is listed as supported. Yep, just the generic USB HID
drivers are all it needs. It mentions Setpoint software is required but
that is probably not true. They make the same claim regarding the wired
mice. I actually prefer their earlier Mouseware program. SetPoint is
hog and add features that I don't need and don't want. Alas, the old
Mouseware doesn't work with all their mice. SetPoint probably adds MORE
features to their wireless keyboard but is not needed if you don't want
all its fluff.

micky wrote:
Are there any keyboards (or for that matter mice or speakers or most
other accessories) that won't work with winXP if they work with 7 or 8
or 10?

This wireless keyboard, as noted at the bottom of the webpage, starts at
7, but that's no reason to think it doesn't work with XP is it. (I
dont' especially want this one, but the next keyboard might be the same
way and I want to get it straight.

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/produc...0-plus?crid=26

I thought the idea was, the device reports as a HID to Plug and Play.
Which solves most of the problems. So if you have a 2.4GHz Unifying Receiver,
it is reporting as a HID to the OS, not as a Wifi device.

It would only be if the keyboard had weird "multimedia" keys and
needed a separate software package to map keypress to running
some program - that might not be compatible across all
platforms. It would depend on how well written it was
(using only Windows APIs not likely to change).

Paul