Reading and writing files to a Windows partition

[Bill Stanley]

I dual boot with Windows.  My Linus partitions are the usual partitions 
and for windows I have 2 partitions C: and D: with D being a small 
partition where I keep files that both Windows and Linux access.  I 
never write to C: and seldom read files on C:.  I do this because in the 
past file access to Windows was uncertain.  (If I somehow mess up D: 
with Linux writing files, its not a disaster.)

My question is... With the improvements to Linux are these precautions 
needed?  Is Linux access to Win32 and NTFS file systems reliable enough 
to not have to worry about?

Bill Stanley