diff --git a/src/vs/base/common/resources.ts b/src/vs/base/common/resources.ts
index bd4ffbac6c18bb45e99908295f3556d2efa58849..7e449cbd744aef83a10a8932e37701e10ea37545 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/common/resources.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/common/resources.ts
@@ -35,20 +35,19 @@ export function isEqualOrParent(base: URI, parentCandidate: URI, ignoreCase = ha
 		if (base.scheme === Schemas.file) {
 			return extpath.isEqualOrParent(fsPath(base), fsPath(parentCandidate), ignoreCase);
 		}
-		if (isEqualAuthority(base.authority, parentCandidate.authority, ignoreCase)) {
+		if (isEqualAuthority(base.authority, parentCandidate.authority)) {
 			return extpath.isEqualOrParent(base.path, parentCandidate.path, ignoreCase, '/');
 		}
 	}
 	return false;
 }
 
-function isEqualAuthority(a1: string, a2: string, ignoreCase?: boolean) {
-	return a1 === a2 || ignoreCase && a1 && a2 && equalsIgnoreCase(a1, a2);
+function isEqualAuthority(a1: string, a2: string) {
+	return a1 === a2 || equalsIgnoreCase(a1, a2);
 }
 
 export function isEqual(first: URI | undefined, second: URI | undefined, ignoreCase = hasToIgnoreCase(first)): boolean {
-	const identityEquals = (first === second);
-	if (identityEquals) {
+	if (first === second) {
 		return true;
 	}
 
@@ -56,11 +55,12 @@ export function isEqual(first: URI | undefined, second: URI | undefined, ignoreC
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	if (ignoreCase) {
-		return equalsIgnoreCase(first.toString(), second.toString());
+	if (first.scheme !== second.scheme || !isEqualAuthority(first.authority, second.authority)) {
+		return false;
 	}
 
-	return first.toString() === second.toString();
+	const p1 = first.path || '/', p2 = second.path || '/';
+	return p1 === p2 || ignoreCase && equalsIgnoreCase(p1 || '/', p2 || '/');
 }
 
 export function basename(resource: URI): string {
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ export function joinPath(resource: URI, ...pathFragment: string[]): URI {
 	if (resource.scheme === Schemas.file) {
 		joinedPath = URI.file(paths.join(fsPath(resource), ...pathFragment)).path;
 	} else {
-		joinedPath = paths.posix.join(resource.path, ...pathFragment);
+		joinedPath = paths.posix.join(resource.path || '/', ...pathFragment);
 	}
 	return resource.with({
 		path: joinedPath
@@ -165,10 +165,48 @@ export function fsPath(uri: URI): string {
  * Returns true if the URI path is absolute.
  */
 export function isAbsolutePath(resource: URI): boolean {
+	return !!resource.path && resource.path[0] === '/';
+}
+
+/**
+ * Returns true if the URI path has a trailing path separator
+ */
+export function hasTrailingPathSeparator(resource: URI): boolean {
 	if (resource.scheme === Schemas.file) {
-		return paths.isAbsolute(fsPath(resource));
+		const fsp = fsPath(resource);
+		return fsp.length > extpath.getRoot(fsp).length && fsp[fsp.length - 1] === paths.sep;
+	} else {
+		let p = resource.path;
+		return p.length > 1 && p.charCodeAt(p.length - 1) === CharCode.Slash; // ignore the slash at offset 0
+	}
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * Removes a trailing path seperator, if theres one.
+ * Important: Doesn't remove the first slash, it would make the URI invalid
+ */
+export function removeTrailingPathSeparator(resource: URI): URI {
+	if (hasTrailingPathSeparator(resource)) {
+		return resource.with({ path: resource.path.substr(0, resource.path.length - 1) });
+	}
+	return resource;
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * Returns a relative path between two URIs. If the URIs don't have the same schema or authority, `undefined` is returned.
+ * The returned relative path always uses forward slashes.
+ */
+export function relativePath(from: URI, to: URI): string | undefined {
+	if (from.scheme !== to.scheme || !isEqualAuthority(from.authority, to.authority)) {
+		return undefined;
+	}
+	if (from.scheme === Schemas.file) {
+		const relativePath = paths.relative(from.path, to.path);
+		return isWindows ? extpath.toForwardSlashes(relativePath) : relativePath;
 	}
-	return paths.posix.isAbsolute(resource.path);
+	return paths.posix.relative(from.path || '/', to.path || '/');
 }
 
 export function distinctParents<T>(items: T[], resourceAccessor: (item: T) => URI): T[] {
diff --git a/src/vs/base/test/common/resources.test.ts b/src/vs/base/test/common/resources.test.ts
index b8458df97e078dbaff0bcbd6f1d4abc506c23149..c4fc9cc0f2ec48afbacbe5588d91a39d3a33acef 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/test/common/resources.test.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/test/common/resources.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  *  Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 import * as assert from 'assert';
-import { dirname, basename, distinctParents, joinPath, isEqual, isEqualOrParent, hasToIgnoreCase, normalizePath, isAbsolutePath, isMalformedFileUri } from 'vs/base/common/resources';
+import { dirname, basename, distinctParents, joinPath, isEqual, isEqualOrParent, hasToIgnoreCase, normalizePath, isAbsolutePath, isMalformedFileUri, relativePath, removeTrailingPathSeparator, hasTrailingPathSeparator } from 'vs/base/common/resources';
 import { URI, setUriThrowOnMissingScheme } from 'vs/base/common/uri';
 import { isWindows } from 'vs/base/common/platform';
 
@@ -166,6 +166,102 @@ suite('Resources', () => {
 		assert.equal(isAbsolutePath(URI.parse('foo://a/foo/.')), true);
 	});
 
+	function assertTrailingSeparator(u1: URI, expected: boolean) {
+		assert.equal(hasTrailingPathSeparator(u1), expected, u1.toString());
+	}
+
+	function assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(u1: URI, expected: URI) {
+		assertEqualURI(removeTrailingPathSeparator(u1), expected, u1.toString());
+	}
+
+	test('trailingPathSeparator', () => {
+		assertTrailingSeparator(URI.parse('foo://a/foo'), false);
+		assertTrailingSeparator(URI.parse('foo://a/foo/'), true);
+		assertTrailingSeparator(URI.parse('foo://a/'), false);
+		assertTrailingSeparator(URI.parse('foo://a'), false);
+
+		assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(URI.parse('foo://a/foo'), URI.parse('foo://a/foo'));
+		assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(URI.parse('foo://a/foo/'), URI.parse('foo://a/foo'));
+		assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(URI.parse('foo://a/'), URI.parse('foo://a/'));
+		assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(URI.parse('foo://a'), URI.parse('foo://a'));
+
+		if (isWindows) {
+			assertTrailingSeparator(URI.file('c:\\a\\foo'), false);
+			assertTrailingSeparator(URI.file('c:\\a\\foo\\'), true);
+			assertTrailingSeparator(URI.file('c:\\'), false);
+			assertTrailingSeparator(URI.file('\\\\server\\share\\some\\'), true);
+			assertTrailingSeparator(URI.file('\\\\server\\share\\'), false);
+
+			assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(URI.file('c:\\a\\foo'), URI.file('c:\\a\\foo'));
+			assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(URI.file('c:\\a\\foo\\'), URI.file('c:\\a\\foo'));
+			assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(URI.file('c:\\'), URI.file('c:\\'));
+			assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(URI.file('\\\\server\\share\\some\\'), URI.file('\\\\server\\share\\some'));
+			assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(URI.file('\\\\server\\share\\'), URI.file('\\\\server\\share\\'));
+		} else {
+			assertTrailingSeparator(URI.file('/foo/bar'), false);
+			assertTrailingSeparator(URI.file('/foo/bar/'), true);
+			assertTrailingSeparator(URI.file('/'), false);
+
+			assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(URI.file('/foo/bar'), URI.file('/foo/bar'));
+			assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(URI.file('/foo/bar/'), URI.file('/foo/bar'));
+			assertRemoveTrailingSeparator(URI.file('/'), URI.file('/'));
+		}
+	});
+
+	function assertEqualURI(actual: URI, expected: URI, message?: string) {
+		if (!isEqual(expected, actual)) {
+			assert.equal(expected.toString(), actual.toString(), message);
+		}
+	}
+
+	function assertRelativePath(u1: URI, u2: URI, expectedPath: string | undefined, ignoreJoin?: boolean) {
+		assert.equal(relativePath(u1, u2), expectedPath, `from ${u1.toString()} to ${u2.toString()}`);
+		if (expectedPath !== undefined && !ignoreJoin) {
+			assertEqualURI(removeTrailingPathSeparator(joinPath(u1, expectedPath)), removeTrailingPathSeparator(u2), 'joinPath on relativePath should be equal');
+		}
+	}
+
+	test('relativePath', () => {
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/foo'), URI.parse('foo://a/foo/bar'), 'bar');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/foo'), URI.parse('foo://a/foo/bar/'), 'bar');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/foo'), URI.parse('foo://a/foo/bar/goo'), 'bar/goo');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/'), URI.parse('foo://a/foo/bar/goo'), 'foo/bar/goo');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/foo/xoo'), URI.parse('foo://a/foo/bar'), '../bar');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/foo/xoo/yoo'), URI.parse('foo://a'), '../../..');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/foo'), URI.parse('foo://a/foo/'), '');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/foo/'), URI.parse('foo://a/foo'), '');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/foo/'), URI.parse('foo://a/foo/'), '');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/foo'), URI.parse('foo://a/foo'), '');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a'), URI.parse('foo://a'), '');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/'), URI.parse('foo://a/'), '');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/'), URI.parse('foo://a'), '');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a/foo?q'), URI.parse('foo://a/foo/bar#h'), 'bar');
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://'), URI.parse('foo://a/b'), undefined);
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('foo://a2/b'), URI.parse('foo://a/b'), undefined);
+		assertRelativePath(URI.parse('goo://a/b'), URI.parse('foo://a/b'), undefined);
+
+		if (isWindows) {
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('c:\\foo\\bar'), URI.file('c:\\foo\\bar'), '');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('c:\\foo\\bar\\huu'), URI.file('c:\\foo\\bar'), '..');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('c:\\foo\\bar\\a1\\a2'), URI.file('c:\\foo\\bar'), '../..');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('c:\\foo\\bar\\'), URI.file('c:\\foo\\bar\\a1\\a2'), 'a1/a2');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('c:\\foo\\bar\\'), URI.file('c:\\foo\\bar\\a1\\a2\\'), 'a1/a2');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('c:\\'), URI.file('c:\\foo\\bar'), 'foo/bar');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('\\\\server\\share\\some\\'), URI.file('\\\\server\\share\\some\\path'), 'path');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('\\\\server\\share\\some\\'), URI.file('\\\\server\\share2\\some\\path'), '../../share2/some/path', true); // ignore joinPath assert: path.join is not root aware
+		} else {
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('/a/foo'), URI.file('/a/foo/bar'), 'bar');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('/a/foo'), URI.file('/a/foo/bar/'), 'bar');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('/a/foo'), URI.file('/a/foo/bar/goo'), 'bar/goo');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('/a/'), URI.file('/a/foo/bar/goo'), 'foo/bar/goo');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('/'), URI.file('/a/foo/bar/goo'), 'a/foo/bar/goo');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('/a/foo/xoo'), URI.file('/a/foo/bar'), '../bar');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('/a/foo/xoo/yoo'), URI.file('/a'), '../../..');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('/a/foo'), URI.file('/a/foo/'), '');
+			assertRelativePath(URI.file('/a/foo'), URI.file('/b/foo/'), '../../b/foo');
+		}
+	});
+
 	test('isEqual', () => {
 		let fileURI = isWindows ? URI.file('c:\\foo\\bar') : URI.file('/foo/bar');
 		let fileURI2 = isWindows ? URI.file('C:\\foo\\Bar') : URI.file('/foo/Bar');
@@ -184,6 +280,8 @@ suite('Resources', () => {
 		assert.equal(isEqual(fileURI3, fileURI4, false), false);
 
 		assert.equal(isEqual(fileURI, fileURI3, true), false);
+
+		assert.equal(isEqual(URI.parse('foo://server'), URI.parse('foo://server/')), true);
 	});
 
 	test('isEqualOrParent', () => {
diff --git a/src/vs/code/electron-main/windows.ts b/src/vs/code/electron-main/windows.ts
index 4e4f11e70264688b357637034c192dbe80e19298..77ed0fe8b585f68aa489fb77b05f9b00291599f8 100644
--- a/src/vs/code/electron-main/windows.ts
+++ b/src/vs/code/electron-main/windows.ts
@@ -34,8 +34,7 @@ import { normalizeNFC } from 'vs/base/common/normalization';
 import { URI } from 'vs/base/common/uri';
 import { Queue, timeout } from 'vs/base/common/async';
 import { exists } from 'vs/base/node/pfs';
-import { getComparisonKey, isEqual, normalizePath, basename as resourcesBasename, fsPath } from 'vs/base/common/resources';
-import { endsWith } from 'vs/base/common/strings';
+import { getComparisonKey, isEqual, normalizePath, basename as resourcesBasename, fsPath, hasTrailingPathSeparator, removeTrailingPathSeparator } from 'vs/base/common/resources';
 import { getRemoteAuthority } from 'vs/platform/remote/common/remoteHosts';
 import { restoreWindowsState, WindowsStateStorageData, getWindowsStateStoreData } from 'vs/code/electron-main/windowsStateStorage';
 
@@ -979,13 +978,8 @@ export class WindowsManager implements IWindowsMainService {
 
 
 		// remove trailing slash
-		const uriPath = uri.path;
-
-		if (endsWith(uriPath, '/')) {
-			if (uriPath.length > 2) {
-				// only remove if the path has some content
-				uri = uri.with({ path: uriPath.substr(0, uriPath.length - 1) });
-			}
+		if (hasTrailingPathSeparator(uri)) {
+			uri = removeTrailingPathSeparator(uri);
 			if (!typeHint) {
 				typeHint = 'folder';
 			}