Which file system is most closely associated with the Mac OS?

The file system most closely associated with Mac OS is HFS+. This file system was developed by Apple and primarily used for Mac OS systems prior to the introduction of APFS (Apple File System). HFS+ is designed to support features that are beneficial for Mac users, such as large file sizes, journaling, and efficient storage management.

HFS+ allows for file naming with extended support for various character sets, which is important for users dealing with international file names. Its journaling capability helps protect file integrity by maintaining a log of changes, which makes recovery from crashes or power failures more straightforward. As a result, HFS+ has been a crucial file system for Mac OS, ensuring compatibility and performance for applications and users within the Mac ecosystem.

The other options represent file systems that are not typically associated with Mac OS. FAT32 is a widely used file system across different operating systems but is not specific to Mac. NTFS is primarily used by Windows operating systems, whereas EXT4 is most commonly found in Linux environments.