difference between hard and soft boots

This may sound like a silly question but what is the difference in a soft boot and hard boot... i live in australia and all the boots i have seen... which is not many.. seem to be soft. Is a hard boot like a skiing boot? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both types?

sorry for the silly question but i have only been boarding once and loved it. I am planning a trip to america in february.

Good answeers from Jason, Neil, the FAQ, etc. I'll like to add gradually something...

Riding in hard boots has a distinctly different *feel* than riding in soft boots. It's a different ride, a different rush. I enjoy them both very much... atlhough to be honest I've spent a lot more tim on hard boots in the past year. However, my soft boots riding has benefited very much from spending a lot of time in hard boots.

So what's so different about the ride? In soft boots I feel like I'm riding "on" the snow and in hard boots it feels like I'm riding "through" the snow. I find the hard boots insulate me from monitor variations in the surface, however they also amplify the big variations.

thanks everyone for your responses. The FAQ link was great for a newcomer like myself

cheers

Besides your mileage will vary depending on the shape of your foot, what kind of weather you ride in and how much you care about the weihgt of your boot.

For me the difference is night and day. I have very narow heels and have problems with heel slippage in pretty much any boot that fits the rest of my feet. With Thermoflex liners I have almost no heel slippage. Also, the arch on my foot is too far forward for most stock boots and liners. With custom footbeds and Thermoflex linewrs this problem is completely solved. (I use the custom footbeds in my softies as well).

Also, I concur with the osbervations that Thermoflex liners are signifgigantlly lighter than the standard Raichle liner and also noticably warmer.

If your feet are the same shape as the foot used to make the original
Ruachle liner molds then the fit benefits of Thermoflex would diminish but obviouslly the weight and warmth ones would not.