Ext2 Filesystem for Linux and Solaris

Right now most people are using FAT32 on their external storage media (usually USB memory sticks or external hard drives and such) due to compatibility reasons. FAT32 can be used on anything from Windows and Linux to Solaris and BSD. Problem is, FAT32 has some severe limitations (like the 4GB file size limit). An alternative would be to use ext2.

The ext2 or second extended file system is a file system for the Linux kernel designed as a replacement for the extended file system (ext). Its successor, ext3, provides journaling and is almost completely backward compatible with ext2 (as in, you can mount ext3 as ext2, dropping journaling capabilities). It is implemented via ext2fs in the Linux kernel.

Other implementations:

• FreeBSD: mount_ext2fs(8) -- mount an ext2fs file system
• NetBSD: mount_ext2fs(8) - Mount an EXT2FS file system and fsck_ext2fs(8) - EXT2 File System consistency check and interactive repair
• OpenBSD: mount_ext2fs(8) - mount an ext2fs file system and fsck_ext2fs(8) - Second Extended File System consistency check and interactive repair
• MacOS X / Darwin: ext2 driver for Mac OS X
• Solaris and OpenSolaris: Install FSWpart FSWfsmisc from
  Miscellaneous filesystem support for OpenSolaris on x86 and use "mount -F ext2fs". You can also use the older ext2fs driver for Solaris 7-10.
• Windows: Ext2 IFS - Installable File System For Windows. Works on NT4.0/2000/XP/2003 that provides read / write access and integrates as well as a native FAT32 or NTFS filesystem. This will also work in Vista if you install under "XP SP2" compatibility mode.
• Windows Vista: Ext2Fsd is an open source linux ext2/ext3 file system driver for Windows systems (NT/2K/XP/VISTA, X86/AMD64).

If you practice dual boot (or multi boot) often or use external hard drives for backup or mass storage purposes, consider using the ext2 filesystem for compatibility reasons.