U1173A ( IR to USB ) adapter cable is an valuable accessory for U1270A series and many more multimeter series, with out it you can not perform data logging to PC, file transfer of saved data, or firmware update.
Few days before the end of 2013 Agilent replaced this accessory by the U1173B which is considered as Windows 8 compatible.
What I am up to find out, is if the compatibility with older Windows versions are still intact by getting an U1173B ?
Agilent is going to email me relative info very soon.