Almost all file systems have metadata. Its up to the apps what metadata to store and display. Music files have artist, album etc. photos have location, camera s

Almost all file systems have metadata. Its up to the apps what metadata to store and display. Music files have artist, album etc. photos have location, camera settings etc. The tree structure is just a feature. You can for example make one file appear in many folders. User rights are often linked to the tree structure, which is very useful.