Both the Unix and MS DOS (and Windows) operating systems provide a hierarchical file structure. That is, files are stored in folders that can contain other folders. The term directory is often used in place of the word folders. Unix folder and file names are case sensitive. For example, dog, Dog and DOG are different file names in Unix. On the other hand, DOS is not case sensitive. File and folder names are limited to an 8.3 format in DOS versions prior to 7.0 (i.e., Windows 95). This means that names may contain at most 8 characters followed by a . (period or dot) followed by at most 3 characters. Unix (and DOS 7.0/Windows 95) file and folder names can be longer and contain more than one period or dot.
Send comments and suggestions about this page to:
Dr. Charles S. Tritt
This page last updated 9/15/97