Using One External USB Drive For Both Windows And Mac

I need to format an external USB drive to use in both windows and Mac.
Which of the two scenarios below would be the better format?

SCENARIO ONE
Format the drive in Mac computer to one single (partition) drive:
Format = ExFAT
Scheme = GUID Partition Map

SCENARIO TWO
Split the drive to two partitions, then format each partition to:
Partition two = Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Partition one = NTFS (for windows)
In this scenario, If I remember, I think the Mac partition needs to
be the first partition in the drive.

Thanks.

Compumind said:

Hi caxtin -
Looks like it is still relevant.

Actually, that is the same video from LAPTOP I saw that got me wondering.
This is why I came to this forum to ask about this method compared to separate partitions.
I would like to know preferences or simply, the 'safest' one.

Thanks for your replay.

Scenario three: Format the disk as NTFS and enable NTFS writing in Mac OS X, or format the disk as Mac OS Extended Journaled and add a third party utility to access it from Windows (such as Paragon HFS). NTFS format can also be read by other devices (TV box etc)

bro67 said:

Just format Fat32.

Great, until you hit the 4GB maximum file size limit in Fat32. That's why ExFAT was one of the suggested options - no file size limits.

Mac and Windows files don't play nice together so it can cause corrupted files