Summary
Linux 7.1 merges a new NTFS driver, speeding file access between Windows and Linux.
Single-thread writes +3-5%, multi-thread +35-110%, and 4TB mounts ~4x faster vs NTFS3.
Dual-boot transfers will be noticeably faster when Linux 7.1 ships, a four-year NTFS revival.
If someone wants to try Linux, but they’re unsure if they want to wipe their computer for it, people often recommend dual-booting it with Windows. That way, you keep the familiar OS while also checking out your shiny new Linux distro, and if you don’t like it, you can just nuke the Linux partition, and no harm is done to your Windows one.
However, for years, the tech behind transferring data between Linux and Windows drives stagnated with NTFS3. It has stability problems, and ever since its release, it hasn’t seen much development. Fortunately, if you dual-boot, I have some excellent news for you; Linux 7.1 has just merged in a change that’s been four years in the making, and it should speed up file transfers between your Windows and Linux drives.
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Linux 7.1 just received better NTFS handling
Accessing files from Windows drives is about to get a lot faster
As reported by Phoronix, a new change has just been merged into the Linux 7.1 kernel. While its developer, Namjae Jeon, had issues getting it accepted due to Linus disagreeing with how it was laid out, they’ve finally managed to appease the big man himself and have gotten the green light to enter the Linux kernel next patch.
It’s called NTFS, and it originally had the name “NTFSPlus” before they reverted back to the original driver’s name to keep things simpler. We first got a glimpse of NTFS back in October, where the dev claimed that the new tech beat NTFS3 in several speed tests. Single-threaded write tests were 3-5% faster; multi-threaded ones were 35-110% faster; and mounting a 4TB drive was 4 times faster than NTFS3.
Sounds good, right? Well, so does Linus. In the Git merge, Linus crowns it the “ntfs resurrection from Namjae Jeon,” and with those speed increases, it’s easy to see why. Jeon has been working away at NTFS for four years now, so it’s good to see that their work has finally gotten the recognition it deserves. So, once Linux 7.1 comes out and you notice that transferring data between a Windows-formatted drive and Linux has gotten a lot faster, you know who to thank.
Related
Linux 7.1 is finally ending support for Intel’s 37-year-old 486 processor
Sorry to all six people still using one.