Magneto-optical drive

<p>A magneto-optical drive is a kind of <a href="/facts/Optical_disc_drive/IM9ugGbU">optical disc drive</a> capable of writing and rewriting data upon a magneto-optical disc. 130 mm (5.25 in) and 90 mm (3.5 in) discs are the most common sizes. 
</p><p>In 1983, just a year after the introduction of the <a href="/facts/Compact_disc/g51GRloc">compact disc</a>, <a href="/facts/Kees_Schouhamer_Immink/eV59gtwU">Kees Schouhamer Immink</a> and <a href="/facts/Joseph_Braat/XdYqyEKk">Joseph Braat</a> presented the first experiments with erasable magneto-optical compact discs during the 73rd <a href="/facts/Audio_Engineering_Society/SgW7IJ9f">AES</a> 
Convention in <a href="/facts/Eindhoven/7ngIHCVT">Eindhoven</a>. The technology was introduced commercially in 1985. Although optical, they normally appear as <a href="/facts/Hard_disk_drive/kekLSGSE">hard disk drives</a> to an <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating system</a> and can be formatted with any <a href="/facts/File_system/FdPm90uc">file system</a>. Magneto-optical drives were common in some countries, such as Japan, but have fallen into disuse.
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Magneto-optical drive open-in-new

Magneto-optical drive