< file system > Microsoft Corporation 's term for a symbolic link , stored as a file with extension ".lnk". Shortcuts first appeared in 1996 in the Windows 95 operating system . Windows shortcuts can link to any file or directory ("folder"), including those on remote computers, using UNC paths. Each shortcut can also have its own icon . A shortcut that links to an executable file can pass arguments and specify the directory in which the command should run. Unlike a Unix symbolic link , a shortcut does not always behave exactly like the target file or directory.
Compare pif .
(2001-12-18)