The difference between microcontroller timer and a timeout is:

Timer and timeout are basically the same thing, one counts time forward and the other counts time backwards.

Timers require polling while Timeouts do not.

Timers require interrupt while Timeouts do not.

There is a limit on how many Timeouts can be created but no limit on how many Timers can be created.

None of $($a$)$ through $($d$)$ is the correct answer.