Windows XP Home vs. Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

[Guest]

I will be purchasing a laptop soon, however one thing has been on my mind.
You are always given the choice between XP Home, Media Centre, and Pro, yet
whenever I ask the difference between Home and Media Centre I always get the
same response. Media Centre Edition has all the features of the Home Edition,
plus added media support. If thats the case then why even have an option for
the Home edition anyways? Are there certain feautres the Home Edition has
that the Media Centre does not have?

I will be planning to network my new laptop wirelessly to my home network,
as well as the network available in college. I will also be doing a lot of
file sharing.

 

[David Candy]

It is actually a nobbled version of Pro (with extra programs) not Home (which is a extra nobbled version of Pro anyway). Anything it can't do that Pro can is due to marketing reasons. The main limitation is it can't join a domain - but it really can it's just MS won't let you. If you are already a member and upgrade it has no problem acting as Pro. The earlier version was an unnobbled Pro with extra programs.

 

[Guest]

So will I be able to do any file or printer sharing?

 

[Ron Martell]

So will I be able to do any file or printer sharing?

Yes. The only limitations in Media Center regarding networking have
to do with joining a Windows Server Domain.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

Well with the current laptop configuration I have, Professional is out of my
budget range. I guess what it all comes down to is, since XP Home and XP
Media Centre Edition 2005 are the same price, which OS am I better off with?

 

[David Candy]

Any Windows computer can do File and Print Sharing (since Windows 3.1 for Workgroups). MS had free addon packs so Dos could too.

 

[David Candy]

Pro has troubleshooting tools. It's best to get Pro if possible.

 

[Guest]

I'd like to, but it does not fit my budget. So its either XP Home or Media
Centre. Just not sure which one to go for.

 

[John Smithe]

I'd like to, but it does not fit my budget. So its either XP Home or
Media Centre. Just not sure which one to go for.

Try:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/evaluation/compare.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx

Good Luck
JS

 

[Guest]

I've tried to go through that without much progress. There seems to be no
comparisson between XP Home and Media centre edition.

 

[David Candy]

Media has all of home + more

 

[David Candy]

The conclusion of what we are all saying is home has least. Pro and Media Player have more than home. So

$MP = $Home

So choice is simple.

 

[Guest]

Not to mention that it lacks terminal services functionality along side of
domain joins, but IIS is included which is a bonus.

 

[LVTravel]

You mentioned one thing that should be significant and that is you will be
joining the network available in college. Every college I have ever been in
has a domain type of network and you would need XP Pro to access the domain.

 

[Ron Martell]

I'd like to, but it does not fit my budget. So its either XP Home or Media
Centre. Just not sure which one to go for.

Get the Media Center if it is the same price. It has everything that
Home has plus a lot of extras. You may not need them, but if the
price is the same......

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I've tried to go through that without much progress. There seems to
be no comparisson between XP Home and Media centre edition.

MCE is the same as Professional except that it doesn't have the ability to
join a domain. Base your comparison on that.

 

[Guest]

One other Question you need to ask yourself

Do I ever INTEND to upgrade to PRO? (to get Domain membership part)

If the answer is Yes then your in for a problem if you chose Media
Center Edn.

As the other threads have grilled in Home can be upgraded to PRO MCE can
not.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

One other Question you need to ask yourself

Do I ever INTEND to upgrade to PRO? (to get Domain membership part)

If the answer is Yes then your in for a problem if you chose Media
Center Edn.

As the other threads have grilled in Home can be upgraded to PRO
MCE can not.

That's a fair point, but it should be noted that the appeal of MCE is almost
exclusively to Home users, rather than corporate ones. And the need to join
a domain is almost exclusively to corporate users, rather than home ones.

 

[R. McCarty]

Actually, I use MCE on my notebook and I have numerous client servers
that I access via Remote Desktop and it does provide for a domain login.
But yes, natively MCE cannot join a Domain. Thought that distinction was
worth pointing out.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

That's a fair point, but it should be noted that the appeal of MCE is almost
exclusively to Home users, rather than corporate ones. And the need to join
a domain is almost exclusively to corporate users, rather than home ones.

Not entirely, Ken. Don't forget the hundreds of thousands of college
students that would almost invariably prefer the feature set and
capabilities of WinXP MCE, but need to have the capability to join their
schools' domains.


--

Bruce Chambers

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