In Mac Classic each folder you opened created a new window which remembered all of its settings for size, position on screen, scroll position, icon size/layout, etc. This window is an explicit and exclusive representation of that particular folder and attempting to open the same folder again does not create a new window, it simply shifts the focus to the already-open window. The change in Mac OS X towards a browser for navigating the filesystem hierarchy caused an active debate over spatial[0] vs. navigation (or browser)[1] file managers.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatial_file_manager

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_manager#Navigational_file...