Linus Torvalds Blesses the “NTFS Resurrection” into Linux 7.1
Linus Torvalds Blesses the “NTFS Resurrection” into Linux 7.1
- Apple’s Native Linux Container Tool Has Arrived — But Can It Really Replace Docker?
- 60% of MD5 Password Hashes Can Be Cracked in Under an Hour with a Single GPU
- Dirty Frag: Root Access on Every Major Linux Distribution — No Patch, No Warning
- Proton Mail: Data Transferred to FBI Again!
- How Close Are Quantum Computers to Breaking RSA-2048?
- What is the best alternative to Microsoft Office?
Linux Kernel · File Systems
Linus Torvalds Blesses the “NTFS Resurrection” into Linux 7.1
After four years of development and a last-minute Git stumble, a thoroughly modernized NTFS driver has been merged into the Linux 7.1 kernel — delivering dramatic speed gains for dual-boot users and a fresh start for Windows file-system support on Linux.
Linux 7.1 NTFS File Systems Dual BootThe Linux 7.1 merge window has delivered one of the most consequential file-system updates in years: a fully overhauled NTFS kernel driver, four years in the making, has officially landed in the mainline kernel tree. Linus Torvalds himself christened the occasion the “ntfs resurrection” — a fitting epitaph for the stagnation that had long plagued Linux’s handling of Microsoft’s ubiquitous file system.
Background: A problem left to fester
NTFS support on Linux has always been something of a patchwork. For years, the read-only legacy NTFS driver languished in the kernel, while users who needed write access turned to NTFS-3G — a FUSE-based solution that worked, but at a noticeable performance cost. That changed in 2021 when Paragon Software contributed the NTFS3 driver, merged into Linux 5.15, which finally delivered reliable read-write support at native kernel speeds.
But NTFS3’s momentum faded. Since its initial integration, the driver has seen limited functional evolution, leaving known stability issues unresolved and modern kernel infrastructure — such as iomap and folio support — unadopted. For dual-boot users shuttling files between Windows and Linux partitions, this was a daily frustration baked silently into their workflow.
Enter Namjae Jeon and the four-year rebuild
Veteran Linux kernel developer Namjae Jeon — the engineer behind the exFAT driver, the KSMBD in-kernel SMB server, and numerous other kernel contributions — decided the right answer was not to patch NTFS3 further, but to rebuild from the ground up. The project began publicly as “NTFSPlus,” positioning itself as a higher-performance, more feature-complete alternative. Over months of iteration, the branding was quietly dropped in favor of something simpler: a direct resurrection of the original Linux NTFS driver name, now rebuilt with full modern capabilities.
The result adds over 36,000 lines of code to the Linux kernel. Beyond the line count, the new driver introduces full read-write support, significantly improved stability validated through a broader suite of XFStests, user-space tooling via the ntfsprogs-plus project (including fsck.ntfs and mkfs.ntfs), and native integration with modern kernel primitives like iomap and folio — features that give it a structural performance edge over NTFS3.
A rocky merge — then a clean landing
The path into the kernel was not entirely smooth. When Namjae Jeon submitted the initial pull request during the Linux 7.1 merge window, Torvalds un-pulled the code after identifying structural problems with how the pull request had been laid out in Git. It was a notable stumble for such a high-profile submission — but a temporary one. Jeon quickly submitted a revised pull request that addressed Torvalds’ concerns, and the driver was merged shortly after.
Namjae Jeon begins overhauling the original NTFS kernel driver with write support and modern kernel features.
Project announced publicly as “NTFSPlus,” targeting a higher-performance replacement for NTFS3.
Pull request submitted during the Linux 7.1 merge window; Torvalds initially un-pulls due to Git formatting issues.
Revised pull request accepted. Torvalds merges the driver, calling it the “ntfs resurrection.” NTFS3 remains in-tree.
What this means for users
The most immediate beneficiaries are dual-boot users — those running both Windows and Linux on the same machine who regularly transfer files across NTFS-formatted partitions. The benchmarks tell a compelling story: multi-threaded write performance improves by 35–110% over NTFS3, single-threaded writes gain 3–5%, and mounting large volumes (such as a 4TB drive) is now roughly four times faster. For users who mount large external drives or NAS volumes formatted with NTFS, that last figure alone is significant.
The new driver can be enabled via the NTFS_FS Kconfig option. Notably, NTFS3 is not being removed — at least for now — meaning existing users who rely on it or have it hardcoded into their configurations will not be abruptly disrupted. The two drivers will coexist in the kernel source tree while the community evaluates the transition.
Context: Linux 7.1 and the road ahead
Linux 7.0 shipped just days ago, and the 7.1 merge window is now open. The NTFS resurrection is among the headline changes of this early merge period. Linux 7.1 is expected to reach release in mid-June 2026. For most desktop Linux users, the new NTFS driver will arrive in distributions once they update to kernels built on 7.1 or later — likely coinciding with the next round of major distribution releases and updates in the second half of 2026.
After years of watching NTFS support on Linux remain a quiet sore point, the “resurrection” label feels apt. It is not merely an incremental fix — it is a statement that Linux’s interoperability with the world’s most common desktop file system is being taken seriously again.
