* Microsoft recommends their NTFS format for large Windows-compatible disks. At least, it did until last week, when I discovered a quirk in the MacOS Disk Utility that allowed me to create a FAT32 volume that would not mount on Windows. I frequently use MacOS to format FAT32 volumes, and that feature has historically worked for me without a hitch. In fact, when it comes to working with FAT32 partitions, Mac OS can do something natively that Windows cannot: MacOS can format FAT32 partitions larger than 32 GB.
That feature helps keep my tool kit a little lighter and my life a little simpler. Since Macs can read and write to FAT32 partitions, * I can keep software and utilities for both operating systems on a single drive.
There are a few features in the MacOS that I rely on to make my double life a little easier, one of those being the built-in support Apple computers have for Windows volumes. I support both Macs and Windows machines, so I spend a lot of time running between systems. Read on, support pros, and save yourselves from future headaches. Avoiding the same problem is easy once you have an understanding of how Apple's formatting tool works. A quirk in the Apple Disk Utility allowed me to create a FAT32 volume that would not mount in Windows.
