Jump to user comments hardware, storage (Or "floppy",
"diskette") A small, portable plastic disk coated in a
magnetisable substance used for storing computer data, readable
by a computer with a floppy disk drive. The physical size of
disks has shrunk from the early 8 inch, to 5 1/4 inch
("minifloppy") to 3 1/2 inch ("microfloppy") while the data
capacity has risen. These disks are known as "floppy" disks (or
diskettes) because the disk is flexible and the read/write head
is in physical contact with the surface of the disk in contrast
to "harddisks " (or winchesters) which are rigid and rely on a
small fixed gap between the disk surface and the heads. Floppies
may be either single-sided or double-sided. 3.5 inch floppies
are less floppy than the larger disks because they come in a
stiff plastic "envelope" or case, hence the alternative names
"stiffy" or "crunchy" sometimes used to distinguish them from
the floppier kind. The following formats are used on IBM PC s
and elsewhere: Capacity Density Width 360K doub