When you set up a case type's states, you must pick one as the initial state. The initial state is the state assigned to new cases of a given type.
You must also define which statuses are considered to be "final". When a case enters a "final" state, it is complete and no further action is necessary. You might want to think of the "final" states as the potential outcomes of a case.
The "final" states are used by the system to differentiate between open and closed cases. For example, an alert highlights when the person / account / location in context has open cases (this alert only exists if you've plugged-in the appropriate installation alert).
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