Home directory

A Home directory is a file system directory on a multi-user operating systems containing files for a given user of the system. The specifics of the home directory (such as its name and location) is defined by the operating system involved (For example, Windows systems prior to Vista refer to the home directory as My Documents).

The home directory is denoted by the sign ~ on linux systems, by %UserProfile% on Windows NT, 2000, XP and 2003, and by $HOME on Mac OS X