I have been doing some research and I have found out that if you want really high transfer speeds it might be better staying with Firewire. The new Firewire 3200 is not supposed to be as fast as USB 3 (up to 4800) but the first devices using Firewire 3200 will probably be capable of realizing 97% of the potential speed, but USB 3 may be realizing only about 25% of the potential speed at first. Plus, computers that have current Firewire 800 ports will apparently be compatible with the new Firewire 3200. People wanting USB 3 will probably need new motherboards and the speed will not be as high as it is supposed to be for a while. Faster than USB 2 but not that great of an increase.
Of course, most common devices will probably continue using USB 1.1 or USB 2 and USB 3 when it becomes commonplace. But for really fast data transfer and fast external hard drives, etc., in the near future, Firewire will probably still be the better choice.
Unfortunately my current Windows and iMac computers have Firewire 400 but not Firewire 800. I think if I had a custom Windows computer built I would go for Firewire 3200 ports. But probably the best thing to do is simply wait for the USB 3 technology to finally realize its real potential. That may be 2-3 years away.
Of course, most common devices will probably continue using USB 1.1 or USB 2 and USB 3 when it becomes commonplace. But for really fast data transfer and fast external hard drives, etc., in the near future, Firewire will probably still be the better choice.
Unfortunately my current Windows and iMac computers have Firewire 400 but not Firewire 800. I think if I had a custom Windows computer built I would go for Firewire 3200 ports. But probably the best thing to do is simply wait for the USB 3 technology to finally realize its real potential. That may be 2-3 years away.
