asp.net mvc - View() vs. PartialView()

Question

The View() method can load Partial Views.

Is the difference between View() and PartialView() is that View() can load views and partial views and PartialView() can only load partial views?

Answer 1

It's up to a view engine to decide if they want to treat partial views different from regular views.

For example, in the WebFormViewEngine there is no difference.

In the new ASP.NET MVC 3 RazorViewEngine there are some differences. Only regular views will have the "_viewstart.cshtml" pages run because they are meant for things such as setting up layout pages.