Windows 95 introduced Windows Explorer and along with it the term folder. What is the relationship between folders and directories?
Some people believe that Windows 95 renamed directories to folders, but it's actually more than that.
Windows Explorer lets you view folders, which are containers in the shell namespace. Directories are one type of folder, namely, folders which correspond to file system locations. There are other types of folders, such as Control Panel or Network Neighborhood or Printers. These other types of folders represent objects in the shell namespace which do not correspond to files.
Read more: The old new thing
Some people believe that Windows 95 renamed directories to folders, but it's actually more than that.
Windows Explorer lets you view folders, which are containers in the shell namespace. Directories are one type of folder, namely, folders which correspond to file system locations. There are other types of folders, such as Control Panel or Network Neighborhood or Printers. These other types of folders represent objects in the shell namespace which do not correspond to files.
Read more: The old new thing