NTFS
Advantages:
- Works natively and perfectly in Windows.
- Other operating systems support read support natively.
- Robust and journaled.
- Very high limits on maximum partition size
- Very high limits on maximum file size.
- Generally efficient at large partition sizes.
Disadvantages:
- Requires third party software to allow for write support on Linux and Mac OS X.
- Slower on Linux and Mac OS X because of the use of FUSE.
- Proprietary filesystem patented, and at the whim of, Microsoft.
FAT32
Advantages:
- Works natively and perfectly in all three operating systems.
Disadvantages:
- No journalling.
- Relatively low maximum partition size (2 Terabytes - not attainable yet but will be).
- Inefficient at large partition sizes.
- Maximum file size limited at 4GB.
– Jono of http://insidethebrackets.blogspot.com/2007/04/whats-best-cross-platform-filesystem.html
The results for the google search ‘best cross platform filesystem’ would mostly say that you use a FAT32 file system. But I agree with Jono when he chose NTFS over FAT32. Read what he has to say here: http://insidethebrackets.blogspot.com/2007/04/whats-best-cross-platform-filesystem.html
