Disk format incompatibility has been one of the biggest barriers to coexistence among computers. Disk format standards differ in the following ways:
• Disk density*
• Locations of data and timing information*
• Organization of the data on the disk*
• Application encoding of the data*
The FDHD overcomes this barrier by providing read/write abilities for several disk formats. The Apple File Exchange application included with the Macintosh Operating System software performs data transfers between disk formats.