It took Microsoft 30 years to change this Windows feature

In 1996 , Microsoft introduced the FAT32 file system as an update to the premature version , FAT16 . At the time , Microsoft imposed a limit on the creation of FAT32 partitions , deciding that the maximal partitioning size of it would be 32 GB . Now , 30 years afterward , the FAT file system supports partitions of up to 2 TB — and Microsoft is finally getting free of that arbitrary demarcation line from Windows 95 OSR 2 .

FAT32 , which bear for the 32 - bit variation of Microsoft ’s file allocation system , is far from the go - to choice inWindows . NTFS is what most multitude use , and exFAT is there to fill in for many other use of goods and services example . Overshadowed by its two more widely used rival , FAT32 managed to splay under the radar for 30 years .

The maximum file size FAT32 living is 4 GB , and that ’s hunky-dory — it ’s the maximum partition size of 32 GB that ’s been a problem . Microsoft bust the news that it ’s finally addressing the issue in the upcomingWindows Insider build . The maximal partition size will now be the same as what FAT has already hold up for years : 2 TB .

I write this Format dialog back on a showery Thursday morning at Microsoft in late 1994 , I think it was .

We were port the bajillion lines of code from the Windows95 user interface over to NT , and Format was just one of those area where WindowsNT was different enough from…pic.twitter.com/PbrhQe0n3 K

& mdash ; Dave W Plummer ( @davepl1968)March 24 , 2024

As The Vergenotes , even though the terminus ad quem is being removed , it ’s still go to be there in the format dialog box . Microsoft might have to take aid of that one day , too . As the publishing spotted , the developer who worked on FAT32 all the way back in 1994 take to X ( formerly Twitter ) to share his process a few months ago .

Dave Plummer , a former Microsoft developer , said that he follow up with both the 32 GB limitation and the formatting dialogue box as a temporary choice . “ That was some 30 age ago , and the dialog is still my temporary one from that Thursday morning , so be careful about stop in ‘ temporary ’ solution , ” aver Plummer .

With NTFS and exFAT both being an option , it ’s less of a surprise that Microsoft managed to depart FAT32 as is for nearly 30 years . But there are benefits to FAT32 , which made the limitation all the more annoying for those who needed to utilize it . It has the best compatibility of all uncommitted file systems . While exFAT and NTFS are more widely used and support bigger file and partition sizes , FAT32 is highly compatible across different operating systems and machine , such as all versions of Windows , macOS , and Linux , and many embedded systems like USB drives and SD add-in . It ’s what you ’d often use toshare a drive between a Mac and a Windows PC , so it ’s good to see it finally being address , even if it ’s probable at least two tenner too late .