Why does the arduino require a driver when many (or most) USB devices don't require a specific driver? (I hope I've posted this in the right section of the forums)
when many (or most) USB devices don't require a specific driver?
All USB devices need drivers, but an operating system will have some of them built in. So it is down to your operating system as to whether you need to install drivers or not.
The Uno doesn't require additional "drivers", but it does require an "info" file that maps the manufacturer/etc to the driver that already exists (and/or confirms that it is allowed to operate on your system.)
The Older Arduinos required a driver because teh manufacturer of the USB chip (FTDI) didn't convince microsoft (I assume we're talking about windows?) to include their drivers in the standard windows distribution.
Thanks..
The getting started section calls the file 'a driver'. Maybe someone should edit it...