XP Professional vs Media Edition

[Guest]

Hi
Trying to decide between these 2. I will not be connecting the PC to a
TV/VCR. I will be using the PC to surf the net (Exlorer 2-3 screens at once)
Instant Messanger, and listening to music - all at the same time.
Looking for one that does not grind to a halt each time I open a new
application.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Trying to decide between these 2. I will not be connecting the PC to a
TV/VCR. I will be using the PC to surf the net (Exlorer 2-3 screens
at once) Instant Messanger, and listening to music - all at the same
time.
Looking for one that does not grind to a halt each time I open a new
application.

Media Center Edition is a superset of XP Professional. It has everything in
Professional plus the extra media-related features, and minus the ability to
join a domain.

It sound like for you, there would be no difference, and you should choose
based on price.

 

[Larry Samuels]

Either will work for you -- the key is to have lots of memory if you
multitask heavily.


--
Larry Samuels Associate Expert
MS-MVP (2001-2005)
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm
Expert Zone-

 

[kurttrail]

Hi
Trying to decide between these 2. I will not be connecting the PC to a
TV/VCR. I will be using the PC to surf the net (Exlorer 2-3 screens
at once) Instant Messanger, and listening to music - all at the same
time.
Looking for one that does not grind to a halt each time I open a new
application.

Whatever you can find that is cheaper. I usually see that MCE is
slightly cheaper than generic OEM XP Pro.

But why not XP Home, especially if you have the media to qualify for the
Retail Upgrade Version. It is cheapest of all, and will do everything
that you say you want to do with your computer.

As Larry said, "the key is to have lots of memory if you multitask
heavily."

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Guest]

Thx This is good info - looking at 1mb of memory - Anyone have a chose of
processor? - AMD? Intel?
Thanks

 

[kurttrail]

Thx This is good info - looking at 1mb of memory

That's about right especially for XP, but with Anal Fistula (Windows
Vista) on the horizon, you'll probably need to double it.

- Anyone have a
chose of processor? - AMD? Intel?
Thanks

If I were building a system, I'd want to go Intel Duo Core. It just
sounds cool to have two processors on the same chip.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Larry Samuels]

I prefer Dual Core AMD 64bit processors and a minimum of 2gb ram, but I am a
hardcore multi-tasker. I think nothing of having 10 to 20 apps open and
working while burning DVDs in the background.

PS--install more than 2gb of ram and play some high intensity games such as
Farcry 64bit. It will really play havoc with your sniper reflexes when the
tree leaves suddenly start blowing in the wind when you are used to popping
off a shot at anything that moves in the bushes. A lot of the game's effects
only occur above 2gb of ram.

Vista really flies on the AMD Dual 3800+ with 3gb ram, but it performs
adequately with full glass effects on my Inspiron 6000 MCE laptop with 1gb
ram

Larry Samuels Associate Expert
MS-MVP (2001-2005)
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm
Expert Zone-

 

[Guest]

Media Center Edition is a superset of XP Professional. It has everything in
Professional plus the extra media-related features, and minus the ability to
join a domain.

It sound like for you, there would be no difference, and you should choose
based on price.

 

[Guest]

Hi Ken,

Sorry for the earlier blank reply by oversight.Can you please elaborate on
what exactly you mean by -"Minus the ability to join a domain"?
Does that mean that you will not be able to use the facility of Remote
Desktop Connectivity to other PC having a Static IP?
Thanks

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Sorry for the earlier blank reply by oversight.Can you please
elaborate on what exactly you mean by -"Minus the ability to join a
domain"?
Does that mean that you will not be able to use the facility of Remote
Desktop Connectivity to other PC having a Static IP?

No, it just means you can't join a domain--the kind of network with a
server, typically used by large corporations and universities.

 

[AT and HMB]

Media Center Edition is a superset of XP Professional. It has everything
in Professional plus the extra media-related features, and minus the
ability to join a domain.

I keep reading that this is the only difference. However I raised a problem
with my MCE 10 days ago and got little response.
Inder the heading of "Offlining Files" I posted thus:

"My MCE systen states:
"Fast User Switching is enabled on this computer. Offline Files cannot be
enabled while Fast User Switching is enabled.
To change your Fast User Switching setting, open User Accounts in Control
Panel and select "Change the way users log on or off"".

However, Control Panel\User Accounts shows "Use Fast User Switching" box"
UNchecked.
(This is exactly the OPPOSITE to what was stated earlier).

Is this some undocumented difference between XP PRO and MCE or can I do
something about it please."

Has no one else come across this?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I keep reading that this is the only difference. However I raised a
problem with my MCE 10 days ago and got little response.
Inder the heading of "Offlining Files" I posted thus:

"My MCE systen states:
"Fast User Switching is enabled on this computer. Offline Files
cannot be enabled while Fast User Switching is enabled.
To change your Fast User Switching setting, open User Accounts in
Control Panel and select "Change the way users log on or off"".

However, Control Panel\User Accounts shows "Use Fast User Switching"
box" UNchecked.
(This is exactly the OPPOSITE to what was stated earlier).

Is this some undocumented difference between XP PRO and MCE or can I
do something about it please."

Sorry, I don't know.

 

[AT and HMB]

Sorry, I don't know.

Thanks anyway for the reply Ken. This is reasonably important to me, but
obviously it is not a well-known or documented problem as I have found it
difficult to get a reply from the "knowledgeable people"