ex3 or ex4

[richie43]

Hopefully this is the right topic to post this in... Should I be using ex4 instead of ex3 for the wonderful Helena? It is currently ex3 and it is a fresh install, so if I need to reinstall, I am not too far entrenched. Plus, it is so easy to install that I don't mind redoing it to make it right. I've trolled Google and have not found an answer to this question. Any ideas as to which is more beneficial? By the way, I am on a duo-core desktop with a sata drive. Thanks!!
Rich

[goaliefight]

That is for you to decide. ext4 is the way of the future so we all might as well accept it at some point. I've been using it for about 6 months with no problems. It's suposed to be faster than ext3 although I have never considered ext3 to be slow or lacking in anyway.

[vrkalak]

The "Ext 3 vs Ext 4" topic is already being discussed, and in more detail here >> http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=151&t=33833
And a few good topic threads, about this, in the Ubuntu forums, as well. Do a search there.

Join in and add your comments.

[StanTheMan]

I am using ext4 and I do notice a faster handling of large files.
An ext4 operating system will mount and read an ext3 data partitioin. But if you are dual booting , an ext3 operating system WILL NOT mount a ext4 partition, nor will a ext3 bootloader such as Gloria boot an ext4 system.

[richie43]

Thanks for all of the info and links! I went ahead and reinstalled with ex4. Maybe it is my imagination, but everything feels a little faster. I will use this and see the differences. Thanks again. I do love the enthusiasm and support about Mint in this community!

Rich

[Lantesh]

I tried it when I first installed Helena. It worked for a few weeks and then one day poof. My entire partition table on my main drive went to hell. Testing proved that it was not a hardware failure. I'm now back on ext3, and have no immediate plans for ext4 in the near future.

[breaker]

I am using ext4 and I do notice a faster handling of large files.
An ext4 operating system will mount and read an ext3 data partitioin. But if you are dual booting , an ext3 operating system WILL NOT mount a ext4 partition, nor will a ext3 bootloader such as Gloria boot an ext4 system.

What do you mean by "a ext3 bootloader such as Gloria." Please elaborate, I installed Linux Mint 7 Gloria XFCE CE onto a single ext4 partition on my usb flash drive, and the same OS on my desktop, where root and /boot are ext3, but the rest are ext4. Are you saying Grub Legacy can't boot a kernel that is on an ext4 volume? Not true.