In Normal view, three panes are visible: the Outline pane, Slide pane, and Notes pane. It's helpful to be able to focus on all aspects of the presentation simultaneously. Dragging the pane borders can change the size of the different panes.
There are masters for both the Notes and Handouts. The master can contain the header and footer information or any picture or icon that you want to appear on all the Notes pages or handouts.