Win Xp Difference

Hi,
Will someone tell me what the difference is in os between win xp home edition and win xp professional.


Neil..........

 

Remote Desktop "“ you don't get Remote Desktop with Windows XP Home
Domain Membership "“ you won't ever be able to join a Windows domain with XP Home
Encrypting File System (EFS)– you don't get EFS with Windows XP Home
File level access control "“ file level NTFS permissions can't be set in Home
Multiprocessor support "“ Windows XP Home supports only a single processor
Internet Information Services "“ You can make Windows XP Pro a Web or FTP server, not Windows XP Home
ASR "“ the Automated System Recovery feature is included in Pro, in addition to System Restore (which is also included in Home)
Dynamic disk support "“ you can't make spanned or striped volumes in Windows XP Home Edition, as you can in Pro
The Network Monitor "“ this handy tool for capturing data packets that are sent to or from your computer isn't included in Home

This is my standard answer...there are probably 10 more reasons if I thought hard enough. Do a search on the Board- it has been discussed before.

Johanna

 

Thanks for the info Johanna, As you know more about Xp than me in your experience, me as a home user is pro a better option than home.


Neil.............

 

It really depends on what you want to use your computer for. If you plan to have other users, or be on a network, or run a server, go Pro. If you are just surfing and getting email, Home is adequate. If you have critical data, ASR might be important to you. Remote Desktop is a nice convenience. I use Pro at home, and Home at work, so I have had lots of opportunity to compare the two. I prefer Pro, but my reasons might not be relevant to your situation. I do think Pro offers me more choices, in easier to find places.

I'm a Tweaker, not graduated to Geek yet!

(Hey, Arie, can you put Tweaker under my name instead of Senior Member? Feel like I'm not old enough to qualify as a Senior, yet, but I do have the gray hair...)

so I might use my comp differently than you intend to. What are the most important things to you? And then, what is the price difference between the two these days? (I've had Pro since Jan 02)

Johanna

 

Hello Neil,

From a Fred Langa newsletter:

quote
XP Home vs Pro
I'm not the only one prepping for Microsoft's coming abandonment of Win98: A lot of readers are asking about their upgrade options. Among those looking at XP, the most common question is "Which version; Home or Pro? "

The Home version is OK, and it costs substantially less than the Pro. But it does lack some features found in the Pro version. Dell actually has a good, though limited, summary page that shows what's *not* in the Home version, here: http://www.dell.com/us/en/fed/topics/winxp_000_index.htm

Paul Thurrot's excellent site goes into more detail:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp

And there's even more detail here:
http://www.iqt.com.au/selectnewsletters/currentissue/windowsXPdifference.htm **This link didn't work at the time of posting

Less useful, but worth a look, is the Microsoft "how to buy" site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing.asp

To me, the key difference is that the Pro version has better security. For example, Microsoft considers the Encrypting File System (EFS) to be a "corporate" feature, and so took it out of the Home version of XP. But file encryption is actually a good thing overall, for anyone. There also are significant differences in networking that can matter a lot on larger networks, although most of these differences aren't important on the relatively small network in my office.

All else being equal, I prefer the Pro version, although the $100 (or so) price difference may be show-stopper for many. In any case, the above resources, plus these http://www.google.com/search?q=features+Windows+XP+Professional+Home may help you figure out which version is best for you.
end of quote

Regards - Charles

EDIT: In the interest of full disclosure, I use Home, the price was right - a Dell upgrade for $20.00

 

Hi, Thanks every body who replied to this post it's been very helpful. I have been given an XP Prof disk so that cuts out my costs. I just hope it works because it was a disk that was supplied with a DELL MACHINE and from past experience with Dell they seem to put some thing into there hardware and software so as to work only with there systems. Yet one can only try.


Neil...............

 

If the original PC loaded from that CD is still operating, you got problems.

 

Hello Neil,

Two potential show stoppers here:

As Newt mentioned, if the XP is till running that the disc is for, then you're going to run into WPA - http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php

Dell does code their discs to only allow downloads to Dell systems.

Regards - Charles

 

Thanks for the Dell piece Charles.

Any idea exactly what piece of hardware/firmware it checks to decide if it's a Dell or non-Dell system?

 

Hi Newt,

A Belarc run will list under System Model - Dell Computer Corpration + an apha code. I'm guessing here, but it makes sense that is what is being looked for. There are also System Service Tag and Chassis Serial numbers.

I don't know where it is, have never been motivated to find out.

Regards - Charles

 

Thx. I don't use the branded stuff either.

Inherited a gateway system once. First thing I did was fire it up to make sure it worked. Second thing was to load a normal OS CD and slick what was there to install a standard copy of the OS.

 

Hi Newt,

The copy of XP that I got from Dell 2 years ago is the standard OS, I just wouldn't be able to install that disc onto a non-Dell system, and I could obviously do what you did, load out a "generic" copy.

The OEM extras came on their own cd's, some of which I chose to install, some not.

Regards - Charles