I have a netbook with Ubuntu Netbook 10.04 and a desktop with Mint 10 (~ Ubuntu Desktop 10.10)

Both of them have read/write NTFS partitions mounted via /etc/fstab. And it works fine.

Ive read on net, google, forums, and several posts here, that NTFS-3G is the driver that allows you to have full access to an NTFS partition, that it is new, great, powerful, yada-yada.

But... my entries use plain ntfs, no mention of -3g, and they still work perfectly as read and write. Am I already using ntfs-3g? Does 10.04 onwards use it "under the hood"? How can i check that in my system?

Should my /etc/fstab entries should use "ntfs-3g" as the fs? Why some posts refer to mount ntfs, while others say mount ntfs-3g ?

Im really confused about where should I use fs-type names (ntfs) or driver names (ntfs-3g?).

Or is it irrelevant now, and ntfs is always an "alias" or something for ntfs-3g nowadays?

Ive read some posts her, from Oct-10 and Nov-10 e that "announce" that ntfs-3g "finally arrived"... thats way post-Lucid 10.04.

Could someone please undo this mess in my head, and explain the relation between ntfs and ntfs-3g, what is the current status (10.04 and 10.10), where should i use each, etc (regarding mount, fstab, etc)?

Sorry for the long, confusing, redudant text... im really getting sleepy