Why choose XP PRO (NT 5.1) over XP Home?

[Curt]

I was running Windows 2000 Professionel for more than six years, so when I was looking for a new PC  I said to the dealer that I of course wanted a PRO version again; this time XP PRO. But the only reasonable priced PC he had was OEM installed with a XP Home version, and any Pro version would be a full price disc on top of the >PC + OEM XP Home< price! I didn't have the money he asked for, so I said Go Home...

During the following six months I have eagerly been waiting for the weaknesses of my XP Home to show up, but have not yet found any (except that my PC is unstable, but that may be some hardware problem), and now I am wondering why any private single home user would choose XP PRO (32-bit NT5.1) over the much cheaper XP Home?

What am I missing, that I have not yet discovered? 

PS: The homepages for XP have almost been deleted, they are nothing but adds for Vista!
- can you even buy a new XP disc?

[Josh]

XP Pro includes various features designed for the home business or professional user. Remote desktop is a feature designed specifically for XP Pro to allow users to remote control their computer. XP Pro includes advanced security control features and user management capabilities often required  by businesses. Check out here:

http://www.winsupers...ndowsxp_home_pro.asp

for more info

[mwb1100]

Most of the additional things in Pro are really only necessary in a business environment, as they are mostly networking related.

The one thing I think I would miss in XP Home is Remote Desktop (but I think most users never would miss it).

Here's a pretty detailed list of differences:  http://www.winsupers...ndowsxp_home_pro.asp

I thought that another difference was that XP Home had no native support for multiple monitors (but that 3rd party drivers could still add that support).  I'm not sure if that's correct or not.

I think one of the reasons MS have so many different variants of Vista is that people will be scared into getting Premium (or Ultimate) because they'll feel uneasy that any of the other variants will be missing some bit of functionality that they'll want.

[Curt]

Thanks a lot for the link to Paul Thurrott's winsupersite - I had long forgotten about it.

In the end of the article it says that it is posible to upgrade from Home to Pro. My dealer said it isn't. What do you say; can I upgrade my XP Home version to XP PRO ??

[Josh]

Very easily, yes, its not too hard.

[Curt]

Hmmm; wonder why he said the other thing. Well, maybe it was a mutual misunderstanding; we were talking about several operating systems. But we were not talking about Media Center (MC). Do you think XP Home will consider a MC installation CD to be an upgrade, and accept it? Maybe the reason my XP is unstable is not a hardware issue but a registry thing, so maybe I can save the 400 apps from my (unstable) Home constellation by upgrading to MC - hoping it will become stable this way??

So, do you think XP Home will consider a XP Media Center installation CD to be an upgrade, and accept it (of course keeping what is already installed)???

[nudone]

i think media center is xp pro with a bit added on but then with a few bits disabled. sorry, no expert but that's what i recall when i encountered it.

so i guess that's an upgrade. better to wait for a more authoritive reply...

[Josh]

XP MCE is XP Home with media center and remote desktop. All the other stuff is left for pro. There is no "Catch all" version of XP from my understanding.

And yes, You can use an MCE cd as an "upgrade" verification cd.

[nudone]

just thought i'd do a quick check to see if was losing my mind...

http://en.wikipedia....Media_Center_Edition

might be wrong but it mentions that media center is xp pro???

There are four versions of Windows XP Media Center Edition. All editions of MCE are based on Windows XP Professional with all features enabled (with exception to Active Directory in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (see paragraph "Features removed in the last release") and Terminal Services in the original release.

[J-Mac]

In XP, Media Center is XP Pro -- not Home -- with added media capabilities. I understand Vista handles that differently. But it is XP Pro.

As for why you were advised not to upgrade, you will have a whole lot of OS on your PC. Upgrading will leave a lot of XP Home files on your machine that have no real function other than to drive you crazy at times! A wipe and fresh install will make your PC much leaner, system files-wise. If you have a disk imager, like Acronis True Image Home, use that to image all that you want to move to the new setup and then restore it after installing XP Media Center. Not really that difficult.

Jim

[J-Mac]

BTW, networking alone makes Pro a better deal.

Jim