<s>
On	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
a	O
special	B-General_Concept
folder	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
folder	O
that	O
is	O
presented	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
through	O
an	O
interface	O
as	O
an	O
abstract	O
concept	O
instead	O
of	O
an	O
absolute	O
folder	O
path	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
The	O
synonymous	O
term	O
shell	B-General_Concept
folder	I-General_Concept
is	O
sometimes	O
used	O
instead	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Special	B-General_Concept
folders	I-General_Concept
make	O
it	O
possible	O
for	O
any	O
application	O
to	O
ask	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
where	O
an	O
appropriate	O
location	O
for	O
certain	O
kinds	O
of	O
files	O
can	O
be	O
found	O
;	O
independently	O
of	O
which	O
version	O
or	O
user	O
language	O
of	O
Windows	O
is	O
being	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Windows	B-Application
Server	I-Application
2003	I-Application
and	O
earlier	O
,	O
a	O
folder	O
like	O
the	O
"	O
Start	O
Menu	O
"	O
had	O
a	O
different	O
name	O
on	O
non-English	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
on	O
German	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
it	O
is	O
"	O
Startmenü	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
starting	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
,	O
all	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
use	O
the	O
same	O
English	O
named	O
folders	O
and	O
only	O
display	O
different	O
names	O
in	O
the	O
Windows	B-Protocol
Explorer	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
the	O
user	O
can	O
switch	O
to	O
another	O
display	O
language	O
and	O
the	O
names	O
of	O
the	O
special	B-General_Concept
folders	I-General_Concept
will	O
change	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	O
uses	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
special	B-General_Concept
folders	I-General_Concept
to	O
present	O
the	O
contents	O
of	O
the	O
storage	O
devices	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
computer	O
in	O
a	O
fairly	O
consistent	O
way	O
that	O
frees	O
the	O
user	O
from	O
having	O
to	O
deal	O
with	O
absolute	O
file	O
paths	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
(	O
and	O
often	O
do	O
)	O
change	O
between	O
operating	O
system	O
versions	O
,	O
and	O
even	O
individual	O
installations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
idea	O
has	O
evolved	O
over	O
time	O
,	O
with	O
new	O
special	B-General_Concept
folders	I-General_Concept
being	O
added	O
in	O
every	O
version	O
of	O
Windows	O
after	O
their	O
introduction	O
in	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
's	O
"	O
Compatible	O
with	O
Windows	O
"	O
software	O
logo	O
requires	O
that	O
an	O
application	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
special	B-General_Concept
folders	I-General_Concept
locations	O
to	O
locate	O
the	O
appropriate	O
folders	O
in	O
which	O
documents	O
and	O
application	O
settings	O
should	O
be	O
stored	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
special	B-General_Concept
folder	I-General_Concept
can	O
either	O
be	O
a	O
reference	O
to	O
a	O
physical	O
file	O
system	O
directory	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
reference	O
to	O
a	O
"	O
virtual	O
"	O
folder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
former	O
case	O
,	O
they	O
are	O
analogous	O
to	O
environment	O
variablesin	O
fact	O
,	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
environment	O
variables	O
that	O
are	O
set	O
in	O
a	O
user	O
's	O
session	O
are	O
defined	O
by	O
where	O
the	O
special	B-General_Concept
folders	I-General_Concept
are	O
set	O
to	O
point	O
to	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Virtual	O
folders	O
do	O
not	O
actually	O
exist	O
on	O
the	O
file	O
system	O
;	O
they	O
are	O
instead	O
presented	O
through	O
Windows	B-Protocol
Explorer	I-Protocol
as	O
a	O
tree	O
of	O
folders	O
that	O
the	O
user	O
can	O
navigate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
systems	O
,	O
the	O
root	O
of	O
this	O
namespace	O
is	O
the	O
Desktop	O
virtual	O
folder	O
,	O
which	O
contains	O
the	O
My	B-Application
Documents	I-Application
,	O
My	B-General_Concept
Computer	I-General_Concept
,	O
My	B-Protocol
Network	I-Protocol
Places	I-Protocol
(	O
Network	B-Protocol
Neighbourhood	I-Protocol
in	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
and	O
98	O
)	O
and	O
Recycle	B-Application
Bin	I-Application
virtual	O
folders	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
virtual	O
folders	O
(	O
like	O
Desktop	O
)	O
have	O
an	O
accompanying	O
special	B-General_Concept
folder	I-General_Concept
that	O
is	O
a	O
reference	O
to	O
a	O
directory	O
on	O
the	O
physical	O
file	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Protocol
Explorer	I-Protocol
displays	O
the	O
combined	O
contents	O
of	O
a	O
virtual	O
folder	O
and	O
its	O
associated	O
file	O
system	O
folder	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
can	O
be	O
seen	O
in	O
Figure	O
1	O
,	O
which	O
shows	O
the	O
Folder	O
view	O
in	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
's	O
Explorer	O
;	O
in	O
the	O
Desktop	O
virtual	O
folder	O
,	O
the	O
four	O
standard	O
virtual	O
folders	O
can	O
be	O
seen	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
an	O
additional	O
folder	O
,	O
"	O
a	O
folder	O
on	O
the	O
desktop	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
real	O
folder	O
located	O
in	O
the	O
Desktop	O
directory	O
in	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
profile	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
third-party	O
programs	O
add	O
their	O
own	O
virtual	O
folders	O
to	O
Windows	B-Protocol
Explorer	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
tables	O
list	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
file	O
system	O
and	O
virtual	O
folders	O
that	O
are	O
available	O
as	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
OS	O
version	O
in	O
which	O
each	O
special	B-General_Concept
folder	I-General_Concept
was	O
introduced	O
is	O
given	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Non-English	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
or	O
earlier	O
will	O
use	O
directory	O
names	O
appropriate	O
to	O
that	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Windows	B-Application
2000	I-Application
and	O
later	O
,	O
not	O
created	O
by	O
default	O
but	O
can	O
be	O
created	O
in	O
any	O
folder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Desktop.ini	O
hidden	O
system	O
file	O
inside	O
the	O
Briefcase	B-Application
and	O
the	O
Briefcase	B-Application
Explorer	O
shell	O
extension	O
(	O
SyncUI.dll	O
)	O
contained	O
its	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Removed	O
in	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
Version	O
1703	O
and	O
later	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
64-bit	O
libraries	O
and	O
executables	O
%windir%	O
\System32The	O
use	O
of	O
%windir%	O
\System32	O
for	O
64-bit	O
libraries	O
and	O
executables	O
in	O
a	O
64-bit	O
Windows	B-Application
OS	I-Application
is	O
intended	O
to	O
not	O
break	O
existing	O
32-bit	O
programs	O
(	O
already	O
using	O
%windir%	O
\System32	O
)	O
that	O
are	O
recompiled	O
without	O
modifications	O
as	O
a	O
64-bit	O
executable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
Desktop	O
"	O
virtual	O
folder	O
is	O
not	O
the	O
same	O
thing	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
Desktop	O
"	O
special	B-General_Concept
folder	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
only	O
has	O
relevance	O
if	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
profile	O
is	O
a	O
Roaming	O
Profile	O
in	O
a	O
Windows	B-General_Concept
Server	I-General_Concept
domain	I-General_Concept
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
Desktop	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
My	B-Application
Documents	I-Application
"	O
virtual	O
folder	O
differs	O
from	O
the	O
"	O
My	B-Application
Documents	I-Application
"	O
special	B-General_Concept
folder	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
"	O
My	B-Application
Documents	I-Application
"	O
folder	O
is	O
moved	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
to	O
a	O
network	O
drive	O
)	O
,	O
attempting	O
to	O
access	O
it	O
via	O
the	O
shell	O
variable	O
will	O
go	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
,	O
default	O
location	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Virtual	O
FolderRepresentsOSRecycle	O
BinThe	O
aggregated	O
contents	O
of	O
the	O
Recycle	B-Application
Bin	I-Application
on	O
all	O
drives	O
for	O
the	O
current	O
user	O
95Control	O
PanelIcons	O
for	O
Control	O
Panel	O
(	O
Windows	O
)	O
applets	O
95DesktopThe	O
Windows	O
Desktop	O
95DrivesMy	O
Computer	O
;	O
contains	O
virtual	O
folders	O
representing	O
everything	O
on	O
the	O
local	O
machine	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
mapped	O
network	O
drives	O
95InternetResources	O
located	O
on	O
the	O
Internet	O
;	O
WebDAV	B-Protocol
connections	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
Desktop	O
"	O
virtual	O
folder	O
is	O
not	O
the	O
same	O
thing	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
Desktop	O
"	O
special	B-General_Concept
folder	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
Desktop	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
My	B-Application
Documents	I-Application
"	O
virtual	O
folder	O
differs	O
from	O
the	O
"	O
My	B-Application
Documents	I-Application
"	O
special	B-General_Concept
folder	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
