Comment by _abox
4 years ago
MacOS called them folders from its very start. Windows until 95 was really just a shell on top of DOS. 95 was too but it was much more of a full featured OS in its own right.
I guess they just wanted to use the metaphor that made sense visually too. Since it was always represented by a folder icon. I don't remember what Windows 1-3 called them but they weren't visually represented by a folder but by a window with little icons. Which didn't make a ton of sense.
The Windows 3.1 File Manager definitely used folder icons that were quite similar to what Windows Explorer used in future versions. The windows full of icons you remember were in Program Manager, which was replaced by the Start menu.