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- #Common file format for mac and windows mac os
- #Common file format for mac and windows drivers
- #Common file format for mac and windows software
- #Common file format for mac and windows license
#Common file format for mac and windows software
Another odd limitation of exFAT support in OS X is that you can’t create a software RAID array in exFAT format, but you can do it with the FAT32 format. exFAT also isn’t supported by Time Machine in OS X, which requires an HFS+ volume. But those are currently only implemented in mobile OSes. Since FAT32 and exFAT are common USB stick file systems, TFAT and TexFAT are driver-level additions to FAT32 and exFAT volumes that address the lack of journaling in much the same way that Apple has with HFS+ in OS X. This means it has a much higher probability of data loss than with NTFS or HFS+. exFAT has no file system-level encryption or compression support, and, like FAT32 before it, there is no journaling built into the exFAT file system. AdvertisementĮxFAT limitations and things to keep in mindīefore you run out and format everything as exFAT, you should understand its limitations-and they aren’t insignificant. Since it’s a relatively new and proprietary format, Linux exFAT support is definitely lackluster, but there is an implementation of exFAT as a FUSE user-space level file system.
#Common file format for mac and windows drivers
On the Windows side, native exFAT support is built into Windows as of Vista SP1, and exFAT drivers are available for older builds like XP. This seems to be fixed in Mountain Lion (10.8) since I didn’t have any issues getting the Mountain Lion-formatted exFAT partitions to show up in Windows 7.
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So Snow Leopard users were forced to use Windows to format the drive as exFAT, and then it would show up fine in OS X. Apparently, Apple’s block size was correct according to the standard, but different enough from Windows’ default to cause it not to be recognized on the Windows side. I’ve read about people having issues with exFAT disks that were formatted using Snow Leopard’s (10.6.x) Disk Utility showing up in Windows. You can format a volume as exFAT within Disk Utility.
#Common file format for mac and windows license
Since exFAT is a closed format, Apple had to license it to integrate it into OS X 10.6.5 and later. Its max file size limitation is 16 EiB (Exbibyte) and its theoretical max capacity is 64 ZiB (Zebibyte), which our people in the lab have called “stupidly huge.” You won’t have any issues with hitting file size or capacity ceilings with exFAT. Its main advantages are that it can store files over 4GB since it is a 64-bit file system. exFAT is a proprietary Microsoft file system that was designed to bridge the gap between the NTFS file system and the more dated FAT32 file system. exFAT: The savior of cross-platform file sharing?įirst, a brief history of exFAT for those unfamiliar with it. But exFAT has its own issues and limitations that few people are probably aware of-and considering how few people even know about exFAT, we thought this was a good opportunity to cover it, along with the various alternatives. With Apple’s licensing of Microsoft’s exFAT file system, it seemed like the main problem with FAT32-the 4GB file size limit-was put to rest, and many people are probably now using it to swap video libraries between their MacBooks and HTPCs or share downloads between OS X and Boot Camped Windows. There are options for cross-platform file sharing-plenty actually-it’s just that each one presents its own limitations and appeals.
#Common file format for mac and windows mac os
While networking between Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux has gotten a lot easier thanks to SAMBA, disk sharing still feels like it’s in its infancy thanks to proprietary file systems and the unique legacy needs of the respective operating systems they run on. One of the more painful areas of cross-platform computing is data sharing.
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Dave Girard spent some time investigating the appeal, the limitations, and the alternatives to exFAT. With Apple's licensing of Microsoft's exFAT file system, it seems like we finally have a good option for OS X and Windows disk swapping.