The basic propagation properties of the silica and silicon subwavelength-diameter hollow wire waveguides have been investigated by comparison. It shows that the silica and silicon subwavelength-diameter hollow wire waveguides have some interesting properties, such as enhanced evanescent field in the cladding, enhanced intensity in the hollow core, and large waveguide dispersion. For the different confinement ability, the enhanced field in the hollow core and cladding of the silica subwavelength-diameter hollow wire is much stronger than that of the silicon one for the same size.