Kernel developer Namjae Jeon has submitted the v3 patch series for the NTFSPlus driver, renaming it to simply NTFS to facilitate integration into the Linux kernel. This update builds on the existing read-only NTFS driver and introduces performance enhancements and new features. The changes aim to streamline code review and improve compatibility with modern Linux filesystem operations.
The development of a new NTFS driver for Linux has reached a significant milestone with the release of the v3 patch series. Namjae Jeon, known for his contributions to the exFAT driver and ksmbd SMB server, submitted these patches to the Linux kernel mailing list on December 29, 2025. The key change is the renaming of NTFSPlus to NTFS, which restructures the code by basing it on the longstanding read-only NTFS driver. This approach, as noted by Phoronix, simplifies code review by allowing maintainers to concentrate on innovations rather than reviewing the entire implementation from scratch.
The updated NTFS driver now supports write operations alongside essential features such as iomap for direct I/O, elimination of buffer-head usage, utility functions, and compatibility with xfstests for filesystem testing. Additional improvements include new generic helpers for cluster-to-folio conversions and byte-to-sector operations, enabling readahead for the $MFT file, and removing the 2TB filesystem limit on 32-bit systems.
Performance benchmarks show notable gains over the existing NTFS3 driver. Single-threaded writes are 3-5% faster, while multi-threaded operations improve by 35-110%. File listing speeds up by 12-14%, and mount times for 4TB partitions drop to under one second, compared to over four seconds with NTFS3.
However, the driver remains experimental. Full journaling support is absent, with only a partially functional journal replay implemented. Jeon plans to add comprehensive journaling after the driver is upstreamed into the mainline kernel. This progression marks steady advancement in providing robust NTFS support on Linux.
