User roles

I am a drupal beginner.

I see that there are user "roles" that can be made, that have to do with authorization. I'd like to create roles in the more general sense - different types of users that, while logged into the same community, see different information and fill out different forms.

For example, right when a new user account is created, the user would be asked what type of user to be. From then on, the pages they can be specified to their user type.

Can this be done?