Those special files date back to MS-DOS 1.0, which did not have directories. There's some explanation in the blog post below. https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com

Those special files date back to MS-DOS 1.0, which did not have directories. There's some explanation in the blog post below. https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20031022-00/?p=42073 https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20031022-00/?p=...