Home Edition Vs. Professional

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What is the bottom line on the Home vs. professional choice? What is missing
from the Home version that anyone would notice? I have a wireless router.
This is the extent of my network....
 
added network tools/support for Domain neworking. Home edition only lets you
connect with a workgroup.
 
What is missing from the Home version that anyone would notice?"
"Anyone" is all of humanity, and we all have different needs. However, many
folks feel the need to upgrade to "pro" despite having no ability to take
advantage of its additional features. They post here all the time, and are
gently directed not to bother. Pro is not a better OS in the generic sense,
but only if your specifics match its few additional features. I suspect some
people want to spend the extra bucks for the ego boost.
 
frogspawn said:
What is missing from the Home version that anyone would notice?"
"Anyone" is all of humanity, and we all have different needs. However,
many
folks feel the need to upgrade to "pro" despite having no ability to
take
advantage of its additional features. They post here all the time, and
are
gently directed not to bother. Pro is not a better OS in the generic
sense,
but only if your specifics match its few additional features. I
suspect some
people want to spend the extra bucks for the ego boost.
Click to expand...

If the user has need to for the Pro features then getting the Home
version is the *wrong* choice. Home doesn't include EFS (encryption
file service). Without EFS, I can take your hard drive regardless of
what permissions you used to protect your files and I can then read,
delete, and edit all your files. Everything yours can be mine. I
needed EFS since physical access to my desktop cannot be restricted.
Windows XP (Home or Pro) does need improvement regarding its login
security to prevent cracking. I also need support for offline
files/folders (so I can use them when not connected to the file server).
When I add another drive, I'll use dynamic disk support to convert my OS
partition to a dyanamic volume and then add the freespace on the new
drive to simply enlarge my C: drive rather than have separate C: and D:
drives (I already have another drive as D: where all my data gets
stored, so I'll want to expand C: when another drive is added). Pro
includes the Fax Service and client so I don't need to bother with 3rd
party software, like Winfax Basic. I only send maybe one fax per year
so I don't need the bloat of a huge fax program (and which is a defunct
product in the case of Winfax). These features are not available in the
Home version.


See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx for a
comparision of features between the Home and Pro versions. If you don't
need the features the Pro version has over the Home version, like for an
immobile desktop at home, then the Home version will probably suffice.
 
With Pro I can display my XP Pro desktop on my Linux Desktop with
rdesktop. One of the few windows features I have actually been very
happy with.
 
In
power4u said:
What is the bottom line on the Home vs. professional choice?
What is
missing from the Home version that anyone would notice? I have
a
wireless router. This is the extent of my network....
Click to expand...


XP Professional and XP Home are exactly the same in all respects,
except that Professional has a few features (mostly related to
networking and security) missing from Home. For most (but not
all) home users, even those with a home network, these features
aren't needed, would never be used, and buying Professional
instead of Home is a waste of money.

For details go to

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/whichxp.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.asp

Also note that Professional allows ten concurrent network
connections, and Home only five.
 
Yes, 99% of the time.
And you are one of the smart ones to be asking the question at all...many
people just decide to do it, knowing nada.
 
power4u said:
What is the bottom line on the Home vs. professional choice? What is missing
from the Home version that anyone would notice? I have a wireless router.
This is the extent of my network....
Click to expand...


The WinXP Home and WinXP Pro versions are _identical_ when it
comes to performance, stability, and device driver and software
application compatibility, but are intended to meet different
functionality, networking, security, and ease-of-use needs, in
different environments. The most significant differences are that
WinXP Pro allows up to 10 simultaneous inbound network connections
while WinXP Home only allows only 5, WinXP Pro is designed to join a
Microsoft domain while WinXP Home cannot, and only WinXP Pro supports
file encryption and IIS. (Oh, and WinXP Pro usually costs roughly $100
USD more than WinXP Home.)

Windows XP Comparison Guide
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.asp

Which Edition Is Right for You
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/whichxp.asp

Windows XP Home Edition vs. Professional Edition
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH
 
Ken Blake said:
In


XP Professional and XP Home are exactly the same in all respects, except
that Professional has a few features (mostly related to networking and
security) missing from Home. For most (but not all) home users, even those
with a home network, these features aren't needed, would never be used,
and buying Professional instead of Home is a waste of money.
Click to expand...

Is it also not true that XP Professional supports the dual-core CPU's that
will be released later this year, whereas the XP Home version does not?

Peter
 
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