Add a paragraph to disambiguate between stack outputs and Output<T> (#…

…13332)

content/docs/iac/concepts/inputs-outputs/_index.md

@@ -324,6 +324,8 @@ In this case, Pulumi is taking the _output_ from one resource and using it as th
 
 All resources created by Pulumi will have properties which are returned from the cloud provider API. These values are called *outputs*.
 
+One important distinction is the difference between a [stack output](/docs/iac/concepts/stacks/#outputs) and a resource output. A stack output is a value that is exported at the end of a successful update, usually intended for use outside of the Pulumi program context, or within another Pulumi program via a [stack reference](/docs/iac/concepts/stacks/#stackreferences). A resource output is something you might use within your Pulumi program to pass a value from one resource to another and compose complex resource topologies. A stack output might be a simple string, but a resource output is a rich object within your program. They are implemented in our [supported language SDKs](https://www.pulumi.com/docs/iac/languages-sdks/) as a generic type Output<T>.
+
 Outputs are a unique and complex type in Pulumi which behave very much like [promises](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futures_and_promises). Simply put, outputs are a way of representing values that are not initially known but will become available once the infrastructure resource has completed provisioning, and this happens *asynchronously*. This is because the provisioning of resources is an asynchronous operation. It takes time for a cloud provider to complete the provisioning process, and Pulumi optimizes the process by [executing operations in parallel rather than sequentially](/docs/concepts/how-pulumi-works/#creation-and-deletion-order).
 
 Because outputs are asynchronous, their actual plain values are not immediately available. Note that _outputs themselves are not plain/primitive types_, and they cannot be converted into plain types. For example, you cannot turn an a variable of type Output<T> into a regular String or an Integer. An output can only be transformed into another output.