This format was optimized to minimize the amount of drive storage space used for a single file (the previous version used sectors loosely, leading to rapidly lost drive space). Mac - Since Mac OS 8.1, the Mac has been using a format called HFS+ - also known as Mac OS Extended format. If you have a Windows PC (NT on, including Windows 7), then your system drive is most likely formatted in the NTFS format. This is the format that is used with all current versions of Windows.
Windows - With the advent of Windows NT, Microsoft moved their optimized drive format to something called NTFS (New Technology File System). One is for Windows, one is for Mac, and one crosses the two (but with its own limitations). NTFS, HFS+, FAT - These are the primary formats that are in use today by PC users.
So I thought I’d present a short primer on the formats hard drives use with and between these two primary operating systems. I get this question about once a year from my father-in-law. When you work for a storage solutions company you get a lot of questions from people about hard drive formats - especially about which formats are compatible across the most common operating system platforms, Windows and Mac.
