Why? That is simply because the formatting action will damage your data saved on that drive. You should click Cancel instead of Format disk when seeing this prompt. But after connecting the Mac-formatted drive to Windows, a prompt window will pop up automatically on the screen, saying that they need to format the disk before use. Some took action: they removed the drive from Mac and connected it to a Windows PC properly. Many people doubt that whether they can read Mac drive on Windows. This post from MiniTool will introduce several useful ways to help you with that please read carefully. But the question is: if you click Format disk, your data will be ruined. That is to say, you are not allowed to view anything saved on it before formatting. Yes, Windows (still) uses FAT12 as the default file-system for floppy disks.If you connect a drive formatted in Mac to a Windows PC, you’ll be prompted to format it before use. FAT12 for IBM and clones, GEMDOS for the Atari ST and Atari DOS for the Atari 400/800, Disk ][ format for Apple II, OFS/FFS for Amiga, CBMFS for C64, etc.)įigure 1 shows an example of a couple of games available for different platforms with corresponding labels.Īnd if I format the floppy on my Windows PC, does it still remain “IBM It would indicate both the format of the binaries as well as the file-system layout of the disk (e.g. The boxes would then be marked with the appropriate label indicating which platform the game was for.
For example, SSI (Strategic Simulations, Inc.) frequently released their games for Amiga, Apple, Atari ST, Atari 400/800, Commodore 64/128, IBM, and occasionally a few other niche platforms.
What exactly is the meaning of “IBM formatted” and what is theĭespite what some may think, in the past, much software was ported to most of the available platforms (which was a pretty big feat since there were so many back then, but without the benefit of cross-platform, portable code frameworks).Īpplication programs were often cross-platform, but cross-platform games were even more common. I have often come across floppy disks in the past that were marketed