One of the biggest problems of the systems and one six you can more particular merits, depending on how you look at it obviously, is the closure of the Operating System.
There are consequences to this philosophy that directly affect the way you work with the computer with the choice of different programs, for example, or with the choice of accessories.
Those who work with Mac know that storage disks, for example, cannot use the NTFS file system (system created for Windows NT), on pain of not reading and consequently writing the device.
Useful Links:
Native Mac FileSystems – Texura NTFS – Mounty
What filesystems are recognized (natively) by Mac systems?
Apple reports that Mac is able to recognize the APFS proprietary filesystem, “MacOS Extended” but also FAT and exFAT.
No NTFS that will need external help to work.
And then what?
The problem is not irremediable. To support a filesystem not managed autonomously by the Mac we will have to find an application or a utility that can act as a bridge.
Personally I found two solutions to solve the problem: a paid one (Texura NTFS) and a free one (Mounty).
Mac and NTFS with Tuxera
Tuxera is a paid utility, it costs 25 euros (it would seem one-off) and allows you to manage windows disks formatted in NTFS without clicking, windows to open or programs to start.
I was struck by its simplicity: nothing really needs to be done, the only task for the user is to install the application, stop.
The disks, as it should be, then we will see them in the finder and from there we will manage them both for reading and for writing.
Compared to Mounty, which I will tell you about in a few lines, Tuxera was able to mount a disk that Windows reported as damaged (the screen reported the request for error correction, under penalty of having to format the disk) in read-write mode, saving me in purchase of a new hard disk.
You can download Tuxera from here and you will be free to try the program for free for 30 days. Then you will have to buy a license .
Mac and NTFS, for free, with Mounty
Mounty is a completely free utility that once installed can be opened and found in the menu bar at the top right.
From the menu bar we can understand the behavior of Mounty. The icon will change color depending on what is going on in the system:
- gray icon: Mounty is doing nothing
- green icon: Disc available for reassembly
- orange icon: Mounty is working
- blue icon: Writable disc available in the system
Once a compatible disc is inserted into the Mac, Mounty will attempt to mount as a read-only disc. If the possibility of enabling the writing functions is detected then Mounty will ask us if we want to restart it in the read-write mode. If we give it the ok and everything will be fine then the disk will also be writable and we can manage it as if it were a native system disk.
Compared to Texura there is no automation that allows you to start a disc directly in read-write mode but it is a flaw that you pay lightly given the free program.
Every now and then the software fails to mount the disk in the read-write phase, I honestly don’t know if it depends on a software bug or maybe on the configuration of the device or the Mac.
In any case, Mounty works and I heartily recommend it
