XP Home vs Pro

[Ponty]

I want to install XP to run QuickBooks, using Parallels on my Intel Mac.
The MS comparison chart
<http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx> says
that Home doesn't have "Software Installation and Maintenance ­
automatically install, configure, repair, or remove software
applications."

Is this something I should be concerned about?

Thank you,

Ponty

 

[Wesley Vogel]

You can still install and uninstall software in XP Home.

Software Installation and Maintenance is used with Active Directory and
Group Policy, which Windows XP Home also does not have. If you're not
worried about not having Active Directory and Group Policy, you need not
worry about Software Installation and Maintenance.

Active Directory, Group Policy and Software Installation and Maintenance are
tools more suited to large networks with 100s of computers and big IT
staffs, they are not needed for the average home computer user.

Software installation and maintenance
Administrators can use the software installation and maintenance feature of
IntelliMirror to install and maintain applications on computers. If any of
the applications need to be updated, the network administrator can update
them from the server.

The software installation and maintenance feature of IntelliMirror uses the
following technologies:
Active Directory
Group Policy
Windows Installer

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Ponty]

You can still install and uninstall software in XP Home.

Software Installation and Maintenance is used with Active Directory and
Group Policy, which Windows XP Home also does not have. If you're not
worried about not having Active Directory and Group Policy, you need not
worry about Software Installation and Maintenance.

Thank you for the explanation--I'll get the less-expensive XP Home
version.

Ponty

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Sounds like a reasonable course of action.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[peter]

or wait 2 weeks and buy Vista ??????????/
peter

 

[Don Smith]

Thank you for the explanation--I'll get the less-expensive XP Home
version.

Ponty

I see those terms are associated with SP2. How can I determine if I have
that for XP Home?

Is it needed for the Home version?

Don

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

I see those terms are associated with SP2. How can I determine if I have
that for XP Home?

Is it needed for the Home version?

Don

Tight click My Computer and choose Properties. It will tell you if it has
Service Pack 2.

Yes, you need it.

 

[Ponty]

Sounds like a reasonable course of action.

I ended up getting XP Pro (OEM version) after all. It wasn't a lot more
than XP Home and the seller told me that I might run into problems using
XP Home with Parallels. I had my doubts about whether that was true or
not but the price difference wasn't enough to make me risk it.

Ponty

 

[Wesley Vogel]

What is Parallels?

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Shenan Stanley]

<snipped>

I ended up getting XP Pro (OEM version) after all. It wasn't a lot
more than XP Home and the seller told me that I might run into
problems using XP Home with Parallels. I had my doubts about
whether that was true or not but the price difference wasn't enough
to make me risk it.

What is Parallels?

Fair bet:

Parallels Desktop for Mac
http://www.parallels.com/

'Parallels Desktop for Mac is the first solution that gives Apple users the
ability to run Windows alongside Mac OS X in a secure, isolated virtual
machine.'

 

[Don Smith]

Tight click My Computer and choose Properties. It will tell you if it
has Service Pack 2.

Yes, you need it.

Thanks, I do have SP2, it shows the version of Home I have is dated 2002.
Is there a later version or does SP2 upgrade? I also see many items in the
Windows folder, latest is 11/06:
$NtServicePackUninstallIDNMitigationAPIs$

But that shows _uninstall_, so where is an *install*?

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Fair bet:

Seems to be, Shenan.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Thanks, I do have SP2, it shows the version of Home I have is dated 2002.

Is there a later version or does SP2 upgrade?

Microsoft Windows XP
Home
Version 2002
Service Pack 2

The 2002 part is the Version and will stay the same even if they came out
with SP20. The Service Pack 2 is the important part. SP2 came out in
August 6, 2004. MS is threatening an SP3 in the first half of 2008.

$NtServicePackUninstall$
Windows XP is really Windows NT 5.1, hence the NT part.

<quote>
Service Pack
Definition: A service pack is a tested, cumulative set of all hotfixes,
security updates, critical updates, and updates. Service packs may also
contain additional fixes for problems that are found internally since the
release of the product and a limited number of customer-requested design
changes or features.
<quote>
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824684

$NtServicePackUninstall$ folders are created for uninstalling Windows
Service Packs.

$NtUninstallKB######$

<quote>
Hotfix
Definition: A hotfix is a single, cumulative package that includes one or
more files that are used to address a problem in a product and are
cumulative at the binary and file level. A hotfix addresses a specific
customer situation and may not be distributed outside the customer's
organization.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824684
<quote>

$NtUninstallKB######$ folders are created for uninstalling Windows hotfixes.

But that shows _uninstall_, so where is an *install*?

All over your machine.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In