The maximum clock frequency for the SN74HC595DWR is 25 MHz, but it can vary depending on the operating voltage and temperature.
To ensure that the output pins are in a known state during power-up, you can use the output enable (OE) pin to disable the outputs during power-up, and then enable them once the device is fully powered up.
The MR (Master Reset) pin is used to asynchronously reset the shift register and output latch, clearing all outputs to a low state.
Yes, the SN74HC595DWR can be used as a level shifter, but it's not recommended as it's not designed for that purpose. The device is primarily intended for serial-to-parallel data conversion.
The latency between the clock signal and the output data is typically one clock cycle. You can account for this latency by adding a clock cycle delay in your design or by using a clock enable signal to synchronize the data transfer.