Windows Explorer Versus Internet Explorer

People often confuse Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer because of their similar names, but there is a big difference between them. Windows Explorer (often called Explorer for short) is a program for exploring things inside your computer - things like disk drives, folders, and files that you can use without being online. Its program file is named Explore.exe. If your computer is part of a local network, you use Windows Explorer to access shared resources on those nearby computers as well.

Internet Explorer is typically for exploring stuff outside your computer, mainly World Wide Web pages on the Internet. Its program file name is Iexplore.exe. You have to be online (connected to the Internet) to explore those outside resources. The items outside your computer are mostly Web pages, rather than drives, folders, and files. Web pages have longer names, usually in the form of www.something.com, rather than short, simple names such as Computer, Documents, Pictures, and such.

Finally, note that you can open a Web page from a Windows Explorer window by typing the Web page's URL in the Windows Explorer address bar and pressing Enter. However, the Web page doesn't open in Windows Explorer. Instead, Windows Explorer passes the URL to your default Web browser to open the page; it then closes itself.