Page "Computer file" Paragraph 40

The way a computer organizes, names, stores and manipulates files is globally referred to as its file system.

Most computers have at least one file system.

Some computers allow the use of several different file systems.

For instance, on newer MS Windows computers, the older FAT-type file systems of MS-DOS and old versions of Windows are supported, in addition to the NTFS file system that is the normal file system for recent versions of Windows.

Each system has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Standard FAT allows only eight-character file names ( plus a three-character extension ) with no spaces, for example, whereas NTFS allows much longer names that can contain spaces.

You can call a file "< tt > Payroll records </ tt >" in NTFS, but in FAT you would be restricted to something like < tt > payroll. dat </ tt > ( unless you were using VFAT, a FAT extension allowing long file names ).