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A. Symbolic links are a new UNIX-like feature of Windows Vista and Longhorn. They're implemented as part of NTFS and provide a way to create a pointer to another file system object (file, folder, or another symbolic link). They work at the file system level and automatically redirect a file object request to the symbolic link target. In contrast, a shortcut is implemented by the Windows shell. Essentially, the symbolic link gives the ability to have multiple access points on the file system that resolve to the same object instance
