browser vs bridge browser

I am confused on the difference between the browser and the bridge browser and how it accesses the internet. I have searched this but seem more confused now then before.

here are my questions:

- if I have both wifi and a connection to my BB, ie it is bridged and I open the internet does it default to wifi or the blue tooth connection (ie bridged thru the BB)? My preference would be wifi as I believe it is faster and also puts less draw on my BB battery

- I am getting the sense the only way to have the PB connect to the internet thru the wifi connection is if the bluetooth connection is turned "off", i.e. it does not default to wifi?

- it seems that if the PB bridge is "locked" (i.e. I have to enter my passcode from my BB) and wifi is not operational I can still get access to the internet, which has to mean it is in effect using the BB thru bluetooth, BUT I access the internet thur the regular browser. That must mean that regular browser will access the internet either thur wifi or bluetooth? Therefore what is the purpose of the bridge browser?

- i am having trouble understanding what the difference is between a bridge to my BB or tethering to my BB?

Good questions.
I think WiFi is default for the browser.

I think on the earlier OS versions, the regular browser was not able to connect to the internet while Bridged. However, on the latest OS versions (1.0.8 and 2.0beta), the regular browser has access to the internet even while Bridged.

Now, I rarely even use the Bridge Browser.
I just use the Regular Browser.

If your phone is on wifi, then the bridge browser will use the wifi connection. I have tested this by turning off mobile network and turning off wifi on the Playbook. The downside is, no flash - and the browser will be only as good as your phone's browser. Tethering uses mobile network instead of wifi and turns your phone into a modem.

The Bridge Browser uses your phone and the phone's BIS/BES connection to connect to the internet. Depending on how the phone is getting its BIS/BES, this may mean the playbook is getting the data either through the wifi or cellular connection of the phone. This data is compressed and goes through the Blackberry servers. It can be a bit slower than the regular cellular data and I am not sure about BIS, but BES is also encrypted.

The regular browser when connected via bridge to your phones data service will use the normal data connection on the phone, whether wifi or 3G/4G not the BIS/BES connection that goes through Blackberry servers.

Why the bridge browser? Some corporate accounts could be using the BES connection to connect securely back to the corporate network to web pages, intranet, and services not available to the outside world coming in on the regular internet. With the PlayBook and the bridge browser they can then get into their corporate intranets over this secure BES connection.