Mac users who regularly exchange files with Windows users are constantly stymied by one of Mac OS X’s biggest limitations -- you can read NTFS-formatted Windows disks, but you can’t write to them. Thanks to Paragon’s NTFS for Mac, you can, and the latest 8.0 version brings faster read & write operations as well as 64-bit support for Snow Leopard 10.6.

Paragon Software Group has long been a leader in innovative data security and data management solutions, and Mac users have frequently turned to their NTFS for Mac OS X solution to eliminate the barriers between Windows and Mac. The company has just announced NTFS for Mac OS X 8.0 Release Candidate, a free 30-day trial of their latest drivers to read & write Windows-formatted NTFS disks.

“We are very excited to offer this new solution to our fast growing NTFS for Mac OS X user base,” said Tom Fedro, president of Paragon Software Group. “Paragon NTFS for Mac 8 is the only solution on the market based on file-system drivers, which makes it unique with regards to stability and performance. Paragon was the first to officially break down the communication barriers between Mac and Windows, and we remain committed to bringing users the newest features with NTFS for Mac OS X 8.0.”

Paragon NTFS for Mac 8 achieves the speed of native HFS+ drivers, with test results demonstrating around 90MB per second during read & write operations. The company bills the software as “the industry’s fastest NTFS driver,” with Mac users provided full read & write access to Microsoft NTFS partitions, allowing for easy modification of existing files back and forth between Mac and Windows without additional costly hardware or software.

Among the new key features of NTFS for Mac OS X 8.0 are full support for the latest Snow Leopard 10.6 in 64-bit kernel mode, fast volume transfer speed, full read & write access, easy installation and removal, create & repair NTFS partitions under the Mac, use non-Roman characters and languages in your file & folder names, no system degradation during file transfers and no limitations on file or partition size beyond those in the Mac OS X or NTFS specifications.

The Paragon NTFS for Mac OS X 8.0 Release Candidate is now available for download from the company’s website and gives full access to the feature set for a 30-day trial. Pricing and availability has not been announced for the shipping product, but Release Candidate users are promised a discounted price when it becomes available. Customers who purchase the current 7.0 version will also be entitled to a free upgrade to 8.0.