A hosting control panel is a collection of instruments that you can access through a web browser to take care of your online content. As you will get a graphic point-and-click interface, you will be able to use these instruments to do various tasks far easier than if you have to type complex commands in a command line. All control panels allow you to do some basic things such as managing your files, email addresses and databases or browsing through stats and logs, yet a few of them are easier to use than others and offer more features which can save you time and efforts. In this light, the control panel that you will get with a new web hosting account can really make a difference, so you should check it and see whether it'll suit your needs before you register for the service.