re: What is the real difference between a terror and a non terror attack?

Terror attack - perpetuated by a nonstate actor against either the state, or civilians, in an attempt to sway the opinion of the public in regards to a political or ideological motif.

Non-terror attack-
Perpetuated by the state (no longer terrorist act, as terrorist are not state actors), perpetuated by civilians against other civilians for personal reasons/gains.

Basically, the difference is who is doing the attacking, what the target is, and what the motivation behind the attack is.