Windows XP Professional or Home version?

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Guest

I am wondering about which is a far better version of windows XP. I have
Both versions, the professional version, and when I purchaed this new
computer, the Home edition was included (already installed). I am wondering
which is basically the best for gaming? Is there a difference in preformance
values?

The reason I ask, I switched quickly from the Home Edition to the
Professional, and since I play games most of the time (I only have 256 Megs
of memory), I am wondering if by using the Professional version, are there
more programs being loaded in the background that would normally not be
loaded by using the Home version?

Thanks...
 
Mikesla said:
I am wondering about which is a far better version of windows XP. I have
Both versions, the professional version, and when I purchaed this new
computer, the Home edition was included (already installed). I am wondering
which is basically the best for gaming? Is there a difference in preformance
values?

The reason I ask, I switched quickly from the Home Edition to the
Professional, and since I play games most of the time (I only have 256 Megs
of memory), I am wondering if by using the Professional version, are there
more programs being loaded in the background that would normally not be
loaded by using the Home version?

Thanks...
Click to expand...

Hey Mikesla, try here ... http://www.duxcw.com/faq/win/xp/diff.htm
 
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

For gaming purposes, either version will do equally well, although
WinXP Pro's more granular security controls may make it easier for you
to assign permissions to folders that the games use. (For some
obscure reason, most game developers seem to not understand WinXP's
file security paradigm, and require even limited users to have
unnecessarily high privileges to protected systems folders. For
example, saved games are often stored in a sub-folder under the game's
folder within C:\Program Files - a place where no inexperienced or
limited user should have write permissions.)

To address your concern of WinXP Pro's having more background
processes: there shouldn't be any more processes running in a
stand-alone or peer-to-peer networking scenario than WinXP Home would
normally have: WinXP Pro's additional processes and capabilities
would really "kick-in" when the machine is added to a domain - not
something with which most home users and gamers need to deal. Your
primary performance bottleneck, regardless of OS version, will stem
from having only 256 Mb of RAM. You really should double that to 512
Mb. Another key factor would be the capabilities of your video
adapter: make sure you've got one that has at least 128 Mb of its own
RAM. Also, no amount of OS "tweaking" will overcome the performance
hit caused by insufficient RAM.

--

Bruce Chambers

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