NTFS-3G for Mac adds drivers to your OS X installation that allow you to read and write to NTFS-formatted thumb and external hard drives as if you're using a Windows machine. The software comes free of charge and features several advanced options such as caching and filename normalization. Overall, it performs well, with speeds approaching those you would get in Windows.
Paragon HFS+ runs in the background and automatically starts on bootup, so accessing your Mac drives will feel exactly like accessing normal Windows drives. Paragon is the same company that makes NTFS+ for Mac OS X, my recommended solution for enabling NTFS write support on Mac OS X Lion. The NTFS-3G driver is a freely and commercially available and supported read/write NTFS driver for Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, NetBSD, Solaris, Haiku, and other operating systems. NTFS Reader for DOS allows you to preview the files on NTFS and copy them from NTFS to FAT volumes or network drives. In order to use the software you need to copy the readntfs.exe file to a bootable floppy disk and boot from it.
Pros
Quick: We transferred a 700MB file in 45 seconds on a Mac, and the same file in 42 seconds using the Mac's Bootcamp installation of Windows.
Neat preference pane: NTFS-3G for Mac provides a clean and accessible preference pane for your NTFS-3G driver. With it you can turn on file system caching as well as configure global and volume options, including filename normalization, debug logging, and unclean volume recovery.
Easy installation: If you don't already have the MacFUSE and FUSE for OS X frameworks on your machine, which are necessary in order to run the app, they will be automatically installed. During the installation process you will be asked for your administrator password and to choose whether to use UBLIO caching.
Cons
UBLIO caching: While it increases performance, it may damage the NTFS disk in case of a system crash or if the drive is not disconnected properly.
Reboot required: Your NTFS drives won't be recognized by Finder unless you reboot your system.
Slow file transfers: File transfers are noticeably slow. There are also instances of copying failures.
Deletions are final: You have to remember that once you use this application, the files you delete no longer go to the Trash. Recovering them may not be possible.
Bottom Line
If you often come across NTFS thumb drives, or have a Windows installation on your Mac that you'd like to access, NTFS-3G for Mac is just the right app for you. It works great out of the box, but if you're looking for further customization, you can go to System Preferences, where you have options like filename normalization, filesystem caching, debug logging, and more.
What do you need to know about free software?
If you dual-boot your Hackintosh, you've probably noticed that Windows can't read hard drive partitions used by Mac OS X. Mac OS X uses the HFS+ hard drive format, which Windows doesn't support. Luckily, you can enable HFS+ support on Windows with the help of one or two Windows drivers (depending on your budget). Read past the break for a tutorial on how to access your Hackintosh's Mac OS X hard drive partition from Windows.Having read/write access for your Mac partition on Windows will come in handy if your Hackintosh becomes unbootable, because you'll be able to boot into Windows to recover your files (and possibly fix your Hackintosh's boot problem). On top of that, it's simply convenient.
LATEST UPDATE (January 26, 2013): Added Apple's Boot Camp Drivers to the article.
Paragon HFS+ ($20)
Paragon HFS+ ($20) is a Windows application that mounts all of your Mac hard drives in Windows Explorer (a.k.a. My Computer) and gives you read and write access. There's a 10-day trial available. Paragon HFS+ runs in the background and automatically starts on bootup, so accessing your Mac drives will feel exactly like accessing normal Windows drives.
Paragon is the same company that makes NTFS+ for Mac OS X, my recommended solution for enabling NTFS write support on Mac OS X Lion. If you're looking for an alternative to Paragon HFS+, then you can also consider MacDrive ($50; 5-day trial), which is the solution that I'm currently using on my own Hackintosh. It has a higher price tag and doesn't offer much more than Paragon HFS+, but it's an option. If purchasing apps is not an option for you, check out the following section.
Read Ntfs Mac
Apple Boot Camp Drivers (Free)Apple's Boot Camp software is designed to help you run Windows on real Macs. Among other things, Boot Camp includes built-in HFS+ drivers for Windows. These drivers will mount your Mac hard drives in Windows Explorer and give you read access (but no write access). If you don't need to write any files to your Mac hard drives, using them is a free and relatively pain-free solution.
While the HFS+ drivers are normally packaged as part of Apple's Boot Camp Assistant software, you can download them separately below.
DOWNLOAD: HFS Driver v.4.0.2.0
The above download is a ZIP file; open the file in Windows by double-clicking it. Once opened, double-click the 'Add_AppleHFS.reg' file. This will add the Boot Camp drivers to your Windows registry.
Ntfs For Mac Os X
Next, open either the 'For 32-bit Windows' or 'For 64-bit Windows' folder, depending on your copy of Windows. (To find out whether your copy of Windows is 32-bit or 64-bit, click on the Start Menu, and then right-click on 'My Computer' and go to 'Properties'.) Inside these folders are two device driver files. Copy these two files to C:WindowsSystem32drivers. This will install the actual drivers into Windows; reboot your computer afterwards. Once Windows has restarted, your Mac hard drives will be mounted, and you will be able to read files from them properly.
NOTES:
- This method has only been confirmed to work with Windows 7 and Windows 8.
- You must uninstall Paragon HFS+ or MacDrive from your computer before installing Apple's HFS+ drivers.
- To uninstall Apple's HFS+ drivers, delete the two driver files from C:WindowsSystem32drivers. Restart your computer. Then, double-click on the 'Remove_AppleHFS.reg' file to remove the drivers from your Windows registry.
SOURCE: Apple HFS+ Windows Driver (Download) [MacRumors]