XP MCE vs XP PRO yet again...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Albo
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Albo

I see many threads here on the topic...I "advise" (very loose word,
here) a local group in their computer endeavors, and they are now
buying a new computer. Seems all the new computers in town, of
reasonable price, are selling with MCE; one has to special-order PRO
(as I did, earlier this year). I'm trying to get them to go Pro, but it
costs more.

They don't need media stuff, but Home I think seems rather limiting, as
their needs will evolve. They have lots of communications across the
state and will join a state-wide network someday. The MS site compares
only Home VS Pro. Anyone seen a good side-by-side Consumer-Reports-type
checklist of features, simple like, for XPMCE versus XPPRO? Or is it
*just* joining a domain?

And somebody please help me here: what *is*, in simpler terms, "joining
a domain"? Is it something a local group who is also a member of a
state-wide group might want to do?
 
XP Home should be fine unless you're joining a domain, then get XP Pro.
A domain is what you use for client-server network, which has a dedicated
server machine, which is what most businesses use.
Home users, or anyone with just a few PCs connected locally, would be on a
peer-to-peer network (aka workgroup).
It depends what they would be doing as far as joining the "state-wide
network". If they're going to physically plug in to a client-server
network, they'll want XP Pro. If they're just going to talk to other
machines over the internet, they probably won't be getting on a domain.
 
Albo said:
I see many threads here on the topic...I "advise" (very loose word,
here) a local group in their computer endeavors, and they are now
buying a new computer. Seems all the new computers in town, of
reasonable price, are selling with MCE; one has to special-order PRO
(as I did, earlier this year). I'm trying to get them to go Pro, but
it costs more.

They don't need media stuff, but Home I think seems rather limiting,
as their needs will evolve.
Click to expand...


What evolution do you expect will require them to need Professional?

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 (and even
many small business 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 one other point not mentioned on any of those sites: Professional
allows ten concurrent network connections, and Home only five.

They have lots of communications across
the state and will join a state-wide network someday. The MS site
compares only Home VS Pro. Anyone seen a good side-by-side
Consumer-Reports-type checklist of features, simple like, for XPMCE
versus XPPRO? Or is it *just* joining a domain?
Click to expand...


It's just joining a domain


And somebody please help me here: what *is*, in simpler terms,
"joining a domain"? Is it something a local group who is also a
member of a state-wide group might want to do?
Click to expand...


A domain is a network on a server, as opposed to a workgroup. It's not a
matter of whether someone *wants* to do it, it's a matter of whether they
need to. In general, people who use their computer in large corporations and
in some universities need to do this, and almost everyone else doesn't.
Please clarify exactly what you mean by "will join a state-wide network."
What is this network, and how does one join or access it?
 
What I mean by "joining a state-wide network" is probably only that (1)
their computer will be linked into the county's computer network, and
(2 which I realize is not relevant) they will be somewhat loosely
networked, viewingly only, into an administrating state university.
 
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