Little bitch session

[worker201]

My Linux computer will read any disk or storage device with just about any file system on it.  Notably, ext3, ext2, HFS, HFS+, NTFS, FAT32.

My Mac will read HFS, HFS+, and FAT32 for sure.  It can probably read the others, but I've never tried it.

Windows can only read NTFS and FAT32.

Now, from a technocratically competitive point of view, this makes sense.  Microsoft doesn't want you messing with these other file systems.  While Linux and Apple have to make these small concessions to the dominant power.

But it sucks all the same.  I personally consider this level of non-interoperability one of the worst things about Windows.  I should be able to plug my HFS+ iPod into any computer anywhere and download/upload songs.  But no, Windows doesn't allow it.  It's not like it's hard or anything - Linux seems to do a pretty good job of handling HFS+ and recognizing what it should do with an iPod.  But Microsoft just cannot be bothered to do something that useful.  Whores.

[hm_murdock]

http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive6/

Yeah, you can bend it to your will. You just have to bend your pocketbook to someone else's will first.

I'll bet you can find a freeware HFS driver... or ext2 or what the fuck ever. If you want it and need it, then someone else has.

That person has probably fixed the problem.

[RaZoR1394]

I totally agree. But you forgot two filesystems that Windows is able to read, Fat16 and Fat12 (?). They are often used for smaller storage cards.

[Aloone_Jonez]

FAT12 is floppies only, anyway quit ya bitchin:

[worker201]

Okay, so you have trained it to deal with ext2.  Now, when I pop my HFS+ formatted USB stick into your computer, what happens?  In my Windows XP, it insists on formatting it.

[Aloone_Jonez]

http://www.student.nada.kth.se/~f96-bet/hfsutils/
http://www.macdisk.com/mden.php3

[worker201]

Thanks, downloaded both, will try them out next time I have to login to windows.

[Aloone_Jonez]

By the way I haven't tested the above, I just did a quick Google.

I can understand your frustration - Windows just needs so much 3rd party software if you want it to do what you really want.

[Aloone_Jonez]

By the way here's a link for the Ext2 software for Windows: http://www.fs-driver.org/

[worker201]

On an unrelated note, I seem to have misplaced my Windows 98 cd, which is making it difficult to install it in an emulator on my Mac.  A few quick Google searches show that finding a Win98 ROM is very very difficult.

Which raises an interesting question about piracy.  I own a copy of Win98.  I have my certificate of authenticity and serial number, but I just can't find the damn disk.  Does Microsoft actually expect me to try and somehow buy a new copy of Win98?  And where does one buy Win98?  I sure as fuck am not going to try to emulate Windows XP on a G3.  And would it even be legal for me to take a Windows XP cd and install it on my Mac?  There's a lot of holes that Microsoft has left open thanks to their EULA and business model.  Their marketing techniques have basically forced me to resort to piracy.

[Aloone_Jonez]

I'm no lawyer but I think if you have the certificate of authenticity you can download or copy a Windows 98 CD providing it's exactly the same version as the one you've lost and install it on only one computer only.

The reason I'm saying this is because this is similar to downloading ROMs for old console games, you can legally download the ROM providing you already own the game (well I know you technically don't own it but have a license to use it).

[worker201]

I can find old SNES games, but finding Windows isos or roms is hard.  Because Microsoft probably doesn't see things quite that way.  Even if it was "legal", they would still harrass the shit out of anyone who hosted such a thing.