SoftRaid Dropping ExFat Support(?)

Here is the problem. ExFat is not a journaled file system. It does not have protection against directory damage.

ExFat was invented in 2006 for removable media. Remember Windows CE? that was what it was for. A simple file system that an unpopwered computer/operating system could use to access files. No frills or extra features.

Works great for copying files to, and moving those files to many other computers, with varying operating systems.

So keep in mind that ExFat is primarily a FILE TRANSFER file system.

It works, but is not "robust". So when you use it as a standard volume, etc, it has no protection against untoward events.

And, there are no products like Disk Warrior on the MacOS side that can repair an ExFat damaged directory.
We started seeing instances of damage to ExFat volume directories (volume cannot mount) when users move their volumes back and forth, or when the computer crashed with an ExFat volume. The only choice users have is to run a data recovery application if they do not have a up to date backup.

That is why we decided to remove ExFat.

You can still use ExFat, it is supported in Windows. And, you can erase a SoftRAID volume as ExFat if you choose. All we did was remove the ability to create an ExFat volume from the MacOS version of SoftRAID. We are discouraging it, not preventing it.

The difference is now, users are more aware that using Exfat on the Mac (or moving it back and forth) is not standard and hopefully they take precautions against their volume no longer mounting.

We did the same with Case Sensitive file systems. they created issues, especially as users would format their volumes as case sensitive because it seems "more advanced". But applications like Adobe products broke, creating support headaches. So we removed Case Sensitive as an option. You can still erase a volume as Case Sensitive in macOS (That is what Time Machine does when you set it up now), but we do not officially support Case Sensitive file systems.

You can leave your volumes as is, there is no immediate harm. But be aware of the need to keep current backups.

Going forward, we recommend HFS on volumes that need to be shared between Mac and Windows computers. You can also use NTFS, but you will need to purchase the Paragon NTFS driver, as currently, we do not offer an NTFS driver for MacOS.

Also note..... If you read the File Sysstem page you linked to, it does mention these very issues.

https://www.owc.com/blog/what-is-the-best-drive-format-apfs-hfs-ntfs-exfat-explained

"It’s important to note that exFAT is not “journaled” like your MacOS Extended option or the Windows NTFS option; meaning if you have a catastrophic failure of some kind, like a power outage or your dog running under your desk and pulling out all of your cables, it’s possible that you can lose your entire volume. Knowing that, it’s important to always keep backups of your files in multiple places, especially if you are using exFAT."