For those of you that are unaware, thunderbolt and USB 3.0 are relatively new technologies that have extremely high transfer rates compared to the traditional connections.
"You can look forward to seeing Windows-based systems with Thunderbolt in market in the first half of 2012," said Intel spokesman Dave Salvator. Microsoft has also already demonstrated Windows 8 support for Thunderbolt.
Computer World reports Thunderbolt is slimmer and has transfer rates of 10Gbps, compared with SuperSpeed USB's 5Gbps. However, USB is an ominous competitor to replace as it currently holds the international standard and almost any computer peripheral uses this type of connection. USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with 2.0 meaning the infrastructure will not be completely replaced if manufacturers want to attemp the upgrade. Thunderbolt, on the other hand, is a completely new design and will only work on brand new thunderbolt capable gadgets.
Cost is another factor playing to USB's advantage. Thunderbolt is 10x more expensive than the standard. (Probably why Apple has been able to implement the new technology without losing sales - Apple fanboys will buy anything no matter the price.)
The bottom line is the average user will not require those type of speeds for any of their daily applications and will want to use existing devices with usb connections.
USB 3.0 wins...for now.
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