How to start Python IDLE from python.exe window if possible, and if not, what is python.exe even used for?
===

I am running Windows 7 currently, and I remember when using Linux at the school computers I was able to type "gedit &" into the terminal for example to open up the gedit text editor. I was wondering whether there is a similar process to open IDLE, and for that matter a Python program/script by typing it into the "terminal-equivalent." I'm a complete newbie, so I may be off-base a bit...anyways, so there is this terminal-like program called python.exe, and it seems like it should be able to open Python-related software (like IDLE), and I was wondering 1) what python.exe is for, 2) whether it can be treated like a Linux terminal, and 3) how to do stuff in it. I've tried various commands and I get a syntax error for virtually everything. Much appreciated! 