Whats the difference between public and private network in Windows Vista

[molfer]

I was trying to check the different options that i have under Windows Vista and when i went into network and sharing settings, i found out to configure my network out of the two types :
Public
Private
I'm not familiar with Vista so i wanna know what is the difference between these two? Can anyone help me select what i should select?

[Spyrus]

If you have a home network or office network in which different computers share printers, files, data and programs, this kind of network is private network. In such network other computers are visible to you in the Network section and you are visible to other users. So if you have this computer at office or at home and want to share files, select Private Network.

[molfer]

I have this computer of mine at home. But i have this computer and no other computer. And i don't need to share files to anyone, but i use network that is LAN cable to dial a PPPoE connection to the internet just for blogging, surfing and emails. That is the only purpose of my network. So should i select public or private?

[Milton.J]

In such case you must select public network. Public network means your computer is on public network [internet is a large network] and you don't want to share any files or data with others and you want your computer to be hidden from everyone [for safety] else on the network. Else if your computer is visible a crack head person can sneak into your personal data which you would never like...