There are two most commonly used file systems in the PC world: NTFS and FAT. Many PC users are learning that they have an important file system choice to make when they compared their consumer grade counterparts such as Windows 9x or ME to windows 2000 NT and Windows 2000, and they starting to discover the benefits from the compared. They must decide whether to keep using FAT, as many have done for years in other Microsoft operating systems, or to "take the plunge" and go for NTFS. In fact, this may well be the most commonly-asked question associated with NTFS: "should I use FAT or NTFS?"
As with many commonly-asked questions, it is difficult to answer. I think nobody can give you a definitive answer regarding which file system you should choose, because only you clearly know the particulars of your situation. Maybe most of you are not satisfied with this answer to file system choice; of course you want somebody could tell you which is better. This is a bit like asking which is “better”: should choose a Ferrari or a motorcycle?
Most frequently, the question of NTFS vs. FAT is answered by looking at the advantages and disadvantages of NTFS, and comparing it to the simpler FAT file system. This can be made easier by assessing three general questions:
- Do you need the added features and capabilities that NTFS provides but FAT does not?
- Are you willing to accept the additional hardware requirements necessary to use NTFS, and to deal with its drawabcks and limitations?
- Can you invest the additional time and resources for proper administration of an NTFS system?
Again, nobody can answer those questions. Reading the various pages that describe the various benefits and drawbacks of NTFS will help you to make a choice for yourself.
The only other rule of thumb that I would use is this one: the larger the organization, or the greater the number of people that will be using a PC, the more likely it is that you will want to use NTFS on it. Even leaving aside the other features of NTFS, the security provisions of that file system make it pretty much a necessity if you are going to set up a server with files shared by many different users and groups. For very small organizations, access control is something that may be dispensable, but for a company of say, 20 or more people, it becomes quite important. Of course, in some medium-sized organizations security may not be required, but those are pretty atypical. For individual PC users, NTFS may well be overkill, depending on how the PC is being used.
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