Do I need WINDOWS 10 Pro or will “Home” suffice? It’s going to be used primarily for MPLABX, Linux virtual machine and general programming: Python and maybe some Arduino stuff now and then.
Anything above USB2 runs the risk of "my cable doesn't have all the signals that this peripheral wants", just like in the bad old days with DB25, DE9, etc :-(
USB 3 type A connectors will be. Just watch that you do get a machine with type A, as there is a type C connector which will not be compatible with your old stuff.
https://www.tripplite.com/products/usb-connectivity-types-standards
Your questions
Windows 10: any version will meet your needs. Pro just has some more corporate management features and bitlocker. They're all ad-filled junk (except maybe LTSC? Have not tried it yet).
USB 3 type A connectors will be. Just watch that you do get a machine with type A, as there is a type C connector which will not be compatible with your old stuff.Unless you buy a Mac, even that is not really an issue, virtually all other computers that have USB-C also have USB 3.0 as well, and as someone else stated, there are adapters to plug standard USB stuff into USB-C.
Personally I'm not a fan of USB-C, it tries to be everything to everyone and the result is a mess, with stuff that physically plugs in but doesn't always actually work due to various levels of support. It was a good idea on paper, but in practice it is just too complicated and the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. I own zero peripherals with USB-C on them, with my work laptop (Mac) I use adapters for absolutely everything I plug into it other than the included charger.
USB 3 type A connectors will be. Just watch that you do get a machine with type A, as there is a type C connector which will not be compatible with your old stuff.
https://www.tripplite.com/products/usb-connectivity-types-standards
Unless you buy a Mac, even that is not really an issue, virtually all other computers that have USB-C also have USB 3.0 as well, and as someone else stated, there are adapters to plug standard USB stuff into USB-C.
USB 3 type A connectors will be. Just watch that you do get a machine with type A, as there is a type C connector which will not be compatible with your old stuff.Unless you buy a Mac, even that is not really an issue, virtually all other computers that have USB-C also have USB 3.0 as well, and as someone else stated, there are adapters to plug standard USB stuff into USB-C.
Personally I'm not a fan of USB-C, it tries to be everything to everyone and the result is a mess, with stuff that physically plugs in but doesn't always actually work due to various levels of support. It was a good idea on paper, but in practice it is just too complicated and the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. I own zero peripherals with USB-C on them, with my work laptop (Mac) I use adapters for absolutely everything I plug into it other than the included charger.You're doing it wrong? Note that Mac are one of the platforms that does guarantee any USB-C port is USB3 or higher (you perhaps simply wanted to say the Macs only have USB-C and no USB-A ? then why not say that rather than the convoluted and wrong nonsense above). And macs have all the ports across the machine being symmetric/identical so there is no need to put power or monitors on specific ports (which has been a problem with other brands).
Its not that hard, USB-C has USB-2, then optionally it will add in USB-3 or USB-4 (with further optional alt modes. embedded on the same electrical standard), and optionally thunderbolt (again. with further optional alt modes. embedded on the same electrical standard).
The only time this makes any sort of confusion is when manufacturers don't differentiate the ports on the product, and some have different alt mode capabilities or thunderbolt. Every other case they just drop to the highest supported USB standard (which might be speed limited by the use of a cheap cable, but it still works).
For docks or monitors, just leave their high speed (expensive) cable plugged into them and its done.
All current desktop Macs have both Thunderbolt 3 (a superset of USB-C on the same type of connector) as well as USB 3 Type A ports.
USB 3 type A connectors will be. Just watch that you do get a machine with type A, as there is a type C connector which will not be compatible with your old stuff.Unless you buy a Mac, even that is not really an issue, virtually all other computers that have USB-C also have USB 3.0 as well, and as someone else stated, there are adapters to plug standard USB stuff into USB-C.
Personally I'm not a fan of USB-C, it tries to be everything to everyone and the result is a mess, with stuff that physically plugs in but doesn't always actually work due to various levels of support. It was a good idea on paper, but in practice it is just too complicated and the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. I own zero peripherals with USB-C on them, with my work laptop (Mac) I use adapters for absolutely everything I plug into it other than the included charger.You're doing it wrong? Note that Mac are one of the platforms that does guarantee any USB-C port is USB3 or higher (you perhaps simply wanted to say the Macs only have USB-C and no USB-A ? then why not say that rather than the convoluted and wrong nonsense above). And macs have all the ports across the machine being symmetric/identical so there is no need to put power or monitors on specific ports (which has been a problem with other brands).
Its not that hard, USB-C has USB-2, then optionally it will add in USB-3 or USB-4 (with further optional alt modes. embedded on the same electrical standard), and optionally thunderbolt (again. with further optional alt modes. embedded on the same electrical standard).
The only time this makes any sort of confusion is when manufacturers don't differentiate the ports on the product, and some have different alt mode capabilities or thunderbolt. Every other case they just drop to the highest supported USB standard (which might be speed limited by the use of a cheap cable, but it still works).
For docks or monitors, just leave their high speed (expensive) cable plugged into them and its done.
"You're doing it wrong" is such a typical Apple/fanboi response. Blame the customer, the machine is absolutely perfect, the company is run by gods.
As for the rest being "nonsense" I don't think you understand what I said. I have a 2017 Macbook Pro right here in front of me, it has no ports on it besides USB-C, I need adapters for absolutely every peripheral I have, that is simply an objective fact. I have no doubt that the USB-C ports on this particular laptop are properly engineered and fully capable but that does not change another fact, that the USB-C ports on many other devices are NOT fully capable despite having the same connector. I generally like this machine, but it is not without faults. The touchbar is a gimmick that after living with it for 3 years I am firmly in the camp of preferring physical keys, the keyboard is garbage, it's noisy and very small bits of debris cause it to malfunction, and the complete lack of any ports other than USB-C is something that annoys me every time I go to plug something into it. Yes the USB-C ports are electrically compatible with other formats but I need adapters for all of it. I would much prefer to just have USB-3 ports, an ethernet port and a displayport like my Lenovo has. Putting power and other signals on separate, distinct connectors is not a "problem", it's a feature.
USB-C is a solution looking for a problem, the most common "problem" I hear about is people who cannot figure out how to plug a simple USB connector in the right way around. It is more complex, more expensive, requires expensive cables, and years after release it is still a complete mess. There are all sorts of devices that have partially implemented USB-C ports and it will stay that way because fully implementing the standard costs money and on budget devices that cost is significant.
[...]
So it appears like you have some axe to grind, and spew FUD rather than facts.
[...]
So it appears like you have some axe to grind, and spew FUD rather than facts.
Consider someone older, who has perhaps 10 or 15 different computers in their home and lab, along with dozens of USB peripherals. What we don't want, is some non-standard device coming into the "family" and being difficult to connect to everything else. That is a barrier to USB-C right there.
Apple sometimes fails by making things so friendly that they become obscure: For example, my wife has owned an iPad for many years now... but the difficulties in getting big video files off the iPad onto her PC is driving her crazy, and she keeps running out of space on the iPad... she tells me there is no easy way to see what you can delete / uninstall to improve the situation. She says they seem to want to make her subscribe to various cloud services to make it work. ...so, she is now asking for a "Windows" laptop, because "I never have any problems moving or deleting files on my PC". This is despite the fact of how she loves the design, form factor and the beautiful screen of the iPad, and is appreciative of the Apple store's excellent customer service.
[...]
P.S. record video with the built in camera function (not a 3rd party app), then the iWhatever device mounts like any other USB camera and is accessible/browsable with a normal looking file system:
https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/image-capture/imgcp1003/mac
[...]
"I don't like this design that has no legacy USB-A connectors" which is true of all laptop Macs, and few laptops from other brands.
I believe we are having a violent agreement about most of the things you said here![...]
P.S. record video with the built in camera function (not a 3rd party app), then the iWhatever device mounts like any other USB camera and is accessible/browsable with a normal looking file system:
https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/image-capture/imgcp1003/mac
[...]She does record with the built-in iPad camera function. It is not clear to me how the Image Capture application helps transferring video files to a Windows PC - does the application make the iPad appear like a USB mass storage device or something like that?
"I don't like this design that has no legacy USB-A connectors" which is true of all laptop Macs, and few laptops from other brands.The first part yes, that is exactly what I was trying to say, was it not completely obvious?
I'd need separate sets of cables for my machines that have USB-C and those that don't
All current desktop Macs have both Thunderbolt 3 (a superset of USB-C on the same type of connector) as well as USB 3 Type A ports.
I don't have a desktop Mac, I don't know anyone who has one anymore, everyone has laptops. I should have said "Macbook" but I got lazy.