Term of the Moment
consensus mechanism
Definition: exFAT
(EXtended File Allocation Table) An enhanced version of the FAT file system from Microsoft that was introduced in 2006 with Windows CE and Windows Vista (SP1). exFAT extends the maximum Windows file size from 4GB (FAT32) to virtually unlimited. Because Macs and Linux machines also support exFAT, it is widely used as the common, sharable format for USB drives. See FAT32.
Dual File System Support
This Lacie external 4TB hard drive comes with a utility that provides dual formatting. The exFAT partition allows the drive to be shared between Windows, Mac and Linux machines, while the HFS+ section is only native to Mac (see HFS).