Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) Practice Exam

The Master Boot Record (MBR) partition scheme is compatible with Windows systems because it has been a standard for disk partitioning since the early days of DOS and Windows. MBR utilizes a simple structure where it stores the partitioning information in the first sector of the disk, allowing for a maximum of four primary partitions. Windows operating systems, particularly older versions and certain configurations of newer versions, specifically rely on this scheme for booting and recognizing partitions.

In contrast, the GUID Partition Table (GPT) is a newer standard that supports larger hard drives and more partitions but is primarily utilized by modern operating systems, including Windows (specifically Windows 64-bit and Windows Server), alongside UEFI firmware. The Apple Partition Map (APM) is largely specific to older Mac systems and not typically supported on Windows. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is a file system format used by macOS and does not serve as a partition scheme recognized by Windows.