XP Home or Professional

[news.east.earthlink.net]

Can someone please explain the differences in the two and provide some
advice as to which I should purchase for installation on my home PC? I have
had someone tell me that there is not much difference other than the number
of PC's you can network with each. Others have told me that there have been
security problems with Home and that Pro is more reliable. Could someone
please provide some clarification before I purchase?

Thanks in advance,
Brad Hatchett
(e-mail address removed)

 

[HillBillyBuddhist]

Can someone please explain the differences in the two and provide some
advice as to which I should purchase for installation on my home PC? I have
had someone tell me that there is not much difference other than the number
of PC's you can network with each. Others have told me that there have been
security problems with Home and that Pro is more reliable. Could someone
please provide some clarification before I purchase?

Thanks in advance,
Brad Hatchett
(e-mail address removed)

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/choosing.asp

--
D

I'm not an MVP a VIP nor do I have ESP.
I was just trying to help.
Please use your own best judgment before implementing any suggestions or
advice herein.
No warranty is expressed or implied.
Your mileage may vary.
See store for details.

Remove shoes to E-mail.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Brad,

The core operating system is the same. Differences:

- WinXP Pro will allow 10 inbound connections, Home only 5
- Pro has policy editors (useful in a corporate environment)
- Pro has IIS (useful if you build server apps)
- Pro can become part of a domain (another corporate use)
- Both use simple file sharing by default, but it can only be disabled in
Pro
- Firewall and file security between users is the same
- Encrypted file system is only available in Pro

If you need any of the benefits of a Pro system, then go with it. Otherwise,
most home users are happy with XP Home.

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

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

The two 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.

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

"Which is better?" That depends entirely upon the uses to which
you put your computer, the network environment in which you'll operate
it, your specific security needs, and your level of computer
knowledge.


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, MVP]

message

Can someone please explain the differences in the two and provide some
advice as to which I should purchase for installation on my home PC? I have
had someone tell me that there is not much difference other than the number
of PC's you can network with each. Others have told me that there have been
security problems with Home and that Pro is more reliable. Could someone
please provide some clarification before I purchase?

There is absolutely *no* difference in reliability. And for most
security considerations pertinent to home users, there are no
security differences either. If you are a home user, almost
certainly XP Home is the right choice for you. But read on, in
case you are one of those home users whose need is greater.

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, 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.

 

[Guest]

-----Original Message-----
Can someone please explain the differences in the two and provide some
advice as to which I should purchase for installation on my home PC? I have
had someone tell me that there is not much difference other than the number
of PC's you can network with each. Others have told me that there have been
security problems with Home and that Pro is more reliable. Could someone
please provide some clarification before I purchase?

Thanks in advance,
Brad Hatchett
(e-mail address removed)
home is cheaper by one hundred dollars

if you are not connecting to a domain and do not wish
additional security home is the item for you.
if you are an advanced used and want additional security
options then pro is the ticket for you.

to summarize beginning home user should stick with
home,more advanced users who want more security options
should spend the extra money and get pro.
those connecting to a domain require pro
those requiring remote desktop need pro
those requiring additional security options require pro
and must format ntfs.

 

[Alex Nichol]

Can someone please explain the differences in the two and provide some
advice as to which I should purchase for installation on my home PC? I have
had someone tell me that there is not much difference other than the number
of PC's you can network with each. Others have told me that there have been
security problems with Home and that Pro is more reliable.

Security is a matter of whether you wish to control access to files and
folders individually. The central system and its stability and security
against invasion is identical in the two

See http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp
for the list of things that are in Pro only. In addition Pro will
support ten simultaneous connections in a network - Home only five

Unless you want that kind of detail level control over family members,
each with his/her own logon, I would expect Home to be the right choice
for you

 

[cquirke (MVP Win9x)]

news.east.earthlink.net wrote:

Yes, but only in certain contexts, especially corporate networks that
seek centralized administration and domain server support.

False. The both share the same pros and cons; no difference there.

Security is a matter of whether you wish to control access to files and
folders individually. The central system and its stability and security
against invasion is identical in the two

See http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp
for the list of things that are in Pro only. In addition Pro will
support ten simultaneous connections in a network - Home only five

Due to bugs, take that as "9" and "4".

The documentation makes it clear this is not supposed to happen, but
in practice (battling on a 5-seat peer-to-peer LAN, no servers) each
system counts itself as one of the allowed "lives".

This is one of the few value defecits of XP over Win98SE and older
Win9x, which allow "10" rather than "5". WinME is also crippled to
the lower limit, while prior (costly) NT workstation or Pro are "10".

Unless you want that kind of detail level control over family members,
each with his/her own logon, I would expect Home to be the right choice
for you

Yes. The other unlikely factor would be multi-processor systems,
where XP will only use one processor. The ersatz multi-processor
effect of the P4's HyperThreading is fine with XP Home, though
apparently some other licensed-per-processor software gets hissy
because it thinks HT is genuinely multiple processors.

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