Editing Floppy disk (section)

===Gradual transition to other formats===
[[File:Disk-cleaning-kit-front-and-rear.jpg|thumb|Front and rear of a retail 3½-inch and 5¼-inch floppy disk drive cleaning kit, as sold in Australia at retailer Big W, circa early 1990s]]
[[File:Different types of storage components.jpg|thumb|A collection of removable data storage media: Floppy disks, [[flash memory]] media, [[Magnetic-tape data storage|tape-based media]], and [[Optical storage|optical discs]]]]

In the mid-1990s, mechanically incompatible higher-density floppy disks were introduced, like the [[Zip drive|Iomega Zip disk]]. Adoption was limited by the competition between proprietary formats and the need to buy expensive drives for computers where the disks would be used. In some cases, failure in market penetration was exacerbated by the release of higher-capacity versions of the drive and media being not [[backward compatibility|backward-compatible]] with the original drives, dividing the users between new and old adopters. Consumers were wary of making costly investments into unproven and rapidly changing technologies, so none of the technologies became the established standard.

Apple introduced the [[iMac G3]] in 1998 with a CD-ROM drive but no floppy drive; this made USB-connected floppy drives popular accessories, as the iMac came without any writable removable media device.

[[CD-R|Recordable CDs]] were touted as an alternative, because of the greater capacity, compatibility with existing CD-ROM drives, and—with the advent of [[CD-RW|re-writeable CD]]s and packet writing—a similar reusability as floppy disks. However, CD-R/RWs remained mostly an archival medium, not a medium for exchanging data or editing files on the medium itself, because there was no common standard for packet writing which allowed for small updates. Other formats, such as [[magneto-optical drive|magneto-optical discs]], had the flexibility of floppy disks combined with greater capacity, but remained niche due to costs. High-capacity backward compatible floppy technologies became popular for a while and were sold as an option or even included in standard PCs, but in the long run, their use was limited to professionals and enthusiasts.

Flash-based [[USB thumb drive]]s finally provided a practical and popular replacement that supported traditional file systems and all common usage scenarios of floppy disks. As opposed to other solutions, no new drive type or special software was required that impeded adoption, since all that was necessary was an already common [[USB port]].