Can't access an ExFat partion on Mac OSX from Windows 7
So, I've got a Mac Mini 2011 with a 256 SSD, and 16GB Ram. I've got 3 partitions on the fixed disk, a MAC OSX 10.8 boot partition, an ExFat Backup partition, and a 3rd Windows 7 Bootcamp partition.
From within MacOSX, I can setup file sharing fine, and enable SMB so that I can access the shared content via Windows 7. When I share out the ExFat partition, I can see it from Windows 7, but not access it. From another Mac on the network, I have whatever permission I've set up for the share, as intended. I can share my Mac OSX boot volume, and have no problems accessing it from windows or another mac on the network, and have whatever permissions I set up in the sharing options. To verify that this appears to be an issue related to ExFat and OSX, I also set up several USB thumb drives with various partition configurations, and the only way I could access them from Windows, is if the volume is formatted as Mac OSX journaled. Furthermore, I can have an ExFat partition shared out on a Windows 7 PC, and it can be accessed perfectly fine from any PC or Mac on the network, as it should be.
Please spare me the 3rd party workarounds, and rhetoric that involves dumping Windows. Can someone please just tell me, why can't a share be set up with an ExFat partition in Mac OSX, so that it's accessible to Windows PC's? Thanks.
Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion