The dashboard is a main component of the admin panel and is typically front and center.  It has a compact summary view of all of the wordpress pieces.

For us, as a development company that hosts many wordpress sites, the dashboard is a a page that in few seconds allows us to know the system status, the comments waiting to be moderated, the pages on the site and so on.   As such this can be one of the most interesting pages in the site.

Right Now

The right now box (upper left hand corner of the dashboard) shows a summary count of posts, pages, categories,tags and comments.  It also shows the current theme being used and Wordpress version.

QuickPress

Quickpress is a shortcut to create a post right from the dashboard.

Recent Comments

Recent Comments are just that – the most recent comment made on the site.  It shows the what and who of the comment.

Recent Drafts

Recent Drafts is also a shortcut for convenience that lets you go directly to the most recently edited elements in your system.

Your Stuff

You guessed it – this is links to your stuff.

Incoming Links

This section provides a list of the google provided list of new links to your site.

Plugins

The Plugins section shows links to available plug in from the main Wordpress site.