Leading PC technology companies developed the Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) storage interface for hard drives and ATA Packet Interface (ATAPI) devices. Beginning this year, the industry is transitioning from the legacy parallel ATA interface to Serial ATA. Dell recently launched Serial ATA-ready Dell™ OptiPlex™ and Dimension™ desktops and Dell Precision™ workstation systems and plans to complete the transition on these client systems in 2004. The Serial ATA storage interface architecture is as cost-effective as parallel ATA, yet has many performance advantages. In this white paper, we discuss the new technology and Dell's transition plans for client systems.