Technical Definitions: What is 8.3? 8.3 Definition.

Free Definitions: Software: Operating Systems

8.3 Definition

A common shorthand for the limits on filename length imposed by the {file system} used by {MS-DOS} and {Microsoft Windows} - at most eight characters, followed by a ".", followed by a {filename extension} of at most three characters. {Windows 95} supports long filenames by using multiple directory entries per file.  The extra entries are hidden.  It also automatically derives an 8.3 name for each file for {backward compatibility} so that older versions of DOS can still access the file. (1998-10-05)

Definition Provided By Denis Howe