<s>
Macintosh	B-Application
File	I-Application
System	I-Application
(	O
MFS	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
volume	B-Application
format	O
(	O
or	O
disk	B-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
)	O
created	O
by	O
Apple	O
Computer	O
for	O
storing	O
files	B-Operating_System
on	O
400K	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
MFS	O
was	O
introduced	O
with	O
the	O
original	O
Apple	B-Device
Macintosh	I-Device
computer	O
in	O
January	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MFS	O
is	O
notable	O
both	O
for	O
introducing	O
resource	B-Operating_System
forks	I-Operating_System
to	O
allow	O
storage	O
of	O
structured	O
data	O
,	O
and	O
for	O
storing	O
metadata	O
needed	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
of	O
the	O
classic	B-Application
Mac	I-Application
OS	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MFS	O
allows	O
file	O
names	O
to	O
be	O
up	O
to	O
255	O
characters	O
in	O
length	O
,	O
although	O
Finder	B-Application
does	O
not	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
create	O
names	O
longer	O
than	O
63	O
characters	O
(	O
31	O
characters	O
in	O
later	O
versions	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MFS	O
is	O
called	O
a	O
flat	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
because	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
support	O
a	O
hierarchy	O
of	O
directories	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Folders	O
exist	O
as	O
a	O
concept	O
on	O
the	O
original	O
MFS-based	O
Macintosh	B-Device
,	O
but	O
work	O
completely	O
differently	O
from	O
the	O
way	O
they	O
do	O
on	O
modern	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
visible	O
in	O
Finder	B-Application
windows	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
in	O
the	O
open	O
and	O
save	O
dialog	O
boxes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
always	O
one	O
empty	O
folder	O
on	O
the	O
volume	B-Application
,	O
and	O
if	O
it	O
is	O
altered	O
in	O
any	O
way	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
by	O
adding	O
or	O
renaming	O
files	B-Operating_System
)	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
Empty	O
Folder	O
appears	O
,	O
thus	O
providing	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
create	O
new	O
folders	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MFS	O
stores	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
file	O
and	O
directory	B-Application
listing	O
information	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Finder	B-Application
creates	O
the	O
illusion	O
of	O
folders	O
,	O
by	O
storing	O
all	O
files	B-Operating_System
as	O
pairs	O
of	O
directory	B-Application
handles	O
and	O
file	O
handles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
display	O
the	O
contents	O
of	O
a	O
particular	O
folder	O
,	O
MFS	O
scans	O
the	O
directory	B-Application
for	O
all	O
files	B-Operating_System
in	O
that	O
handle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
no	O
need	O
to	O
find	O
a	O
separate	O
file	O
containing	O
the	O
directory	B-Application
listing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Macintosh	B-Application
File	I-Application
System	I-Application
does	O
not	O
support	O
volumes	O
over	O
20	O
MB	O
in	O
size	O
,	O
or	O
about	O
1,400	O
files	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
this	O
is	O
small	O
by	O
today	O
's	O
standards	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
it	O
seemed	O
very	O
expansive	O
when	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
's	O
400	O
KB	O
floppy	B-Device
drive	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
introduced	O
Hierarchical	B-Application
File	I-Application
System	I-Application
as	O
a	O
replacement	O
for	O
MFS	O
in	O
September	O
1985	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
7.6.1	I-Operating_System
,	O
Apple	O
removed	O
support	O
for	O
writing	O
to	O
MFS	O
volumes	O
“	O
as	O
such	O
writes	O
often	O
resulted	O
in	O
errors	O
or	O
system	O
hangs	O
”	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
8.0	I-Operating_System
support	O
for	O
MFS	O
volumes	O
was	O
removed	O
altogether	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
macOS	B-Application
has	O
no	O
built-in	O
support	O
for	O
MFS	O
,	O
an	O
example	O
VFS	O
plug-in	O
from	O
Apple	O
called	O
MFSLives	B-Application
provides	O
read-only	O
access	O
to	O
MFS	O
volumes	O
.	O
</s>
