USB peripheral support in Classic OS

[andy2k68kMLA]

I looked on the internets but couldn't find a conclusive answer. Are USB keyboards or mice supported under Mac OS 9 or earlier? I want to buy a G3 tower for cheap to run Mac OS 8 or 9. The G3 has native USB 1.1 drives. So I guess my question is will any version of classic Mac OS (9.1 or earlier) have native USB support. I'm waiting on an ADB keyboard from eBay but USB support would, obviously, work better. Thanks!

 

[Reasons.]

As I recall, it's complicated. Apple stuff works great. The basically every desktop Mac after the iMac (so Mac OS 8.5) shipped with a USB keyboard and mouse. I think non-OEM stuff is tricker, but USB Overdrive will make some of it work.

 

[mrpippy]

Any Mac that has on-board USB ports supports USB keyboard/mice, with any OS version that Mac can run. This means back to OS 8.1 for the original iMac, 8.5.1 for the B&W G3.

 

[andy2k68kMLA]

Awesome! I actually received the answer I wanted to hear for a change (instead of being disappointed). Thank you guys for your help!

 

[commodorejohn]

I've never had a USB keyboard or mouse fail to work under OS9, but on the Blue & White G3 I had to use an ADB keyboard with OpenFirmware as it wouldn't recognize the (non-Apple) USB keyboard I was using.

 

[Bunsen]

The only complication I've had with generic keyboards is the positions of the Apple and Option key getting swapped.  They can easily be remapped in software.