XP Pro vs. Home

  • Thread starter Thread starter Clayton
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Clayton

Hi, I know Microsoft says that XP Pro is needed for
enhanced computing, but are there really any important
differences between Pro and Home in stability and things
like that?
 
They are both equally the same in stability. The underlying os on the two is
identical. Pro only has more features for networking and security.
 
In [email protected], Greg wrote:
Pro is much more stable and compatible for networking.
That's all I really know, but it's supposed to be more
stable overall, not only as per Microsoft's reports, but
I've heard the same thing from experienced third parties.
Click to expand...


No, this isn't true. The two versions are exactly the same as regards stability. That's because the basic code they run is the same; the only differences are in extra features that come with Professional.

Regarding networking, that's one of the areas where Professional has extra features. But depending on your needs, Home's networking capabilities may be just fine. The basic difference is that Home is limited to Peer-to-Peer networks, while Professional can also join a domain.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

 
Clayton said:
Hi, I know Microsoft says that XP Pro is needed for
enhanced computing, but are there really any important
differences between Pro and Home in stability and things
like that?
Click to expand...

The two versions are both produced from the same source code, and are
therefore identical except for certain specific functions and
capabilities which are found only in XP Pro.

Also in some instances the default settings for certain aspects of a
new install may be different for XP Home then they are for XP Home;
but these can be readily changed.

You only require XP Pro if you have a specific need for one or more of
the features or functions which are not included with XP Home. These
differences are summarized on the following web sites:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/whichxp.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.asp
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp
One additional item that is not mentioned on any of the above sites is
that in a peer-to-peer network sharing configuration XP Home only
allows 5 logins to a shared resource whereas XP Pro allows 10.

Good luck


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

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
 
Hi, I know Microsoft says that XP Pro is needed for
enhanced computing, but are there really any important
differences between Pro and Home in stability and things
like that?

Clayton:

Stability should be the same.

There are significant differences between the two in features/utilities.

Some things that Home does not have/support (that Pro does):
Local group policy
gpedit.msc
ComputerMgmt: Local Users and Groups
ASR (Automatic System Recovery)
Client Service for Netware
Dynamic disks
Encrypted file system
Drive/folder/File level access control in normal GUI mode (does have it via
SafeMode)
IIS
Multi-processor support
NT/Win2k/Win2k3 domain membership
Power User gp
Offline files
Remote desktop hosting
tasklist cmd
systeminfo cmd

And Home cannot create user groups.

Also, Home is limited to 5 concurrent inbound connections, whereas Pro is
limited to 10
 
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