Difference between XP home and pro versions

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synbios

Weaksauce
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Oct 6, 2005
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I wanted to find out what the main differences are between the home and pro versions of XP.

Is the home version stripped down or does the pro version have features that are not erlevant to home users (e.g. targetted at businesses, etc)

many thanks
 
Thanks for the links. I've already seen the MS one which is next to useless, but the Kid-computer one is good. It explains what the main differences are and it looks like Home is better in my instance as I won't be needing networking although security features would be nice.
 
XP Media Center Edition is Windows XP Pro with the media center stuff added on. You can't do some business type things like join your comp to a domain but the XP pro is considered more stable than XP home. It only costs 110 at Newegg while the XP pro was around 130.
 
synbios said:
...although security features would be nice.
Click to expand...
File encryption is overkill even for most businesses, but if it is necessary it can be added by using a third-party software encryption solution. The 'security' aspects of a damain-based network are a complete irrelevence if you aren't connected to a domain-based network. Apart from those the only real 'security' benefit XP Pro gives is ease of configuring security-related settings. Pro includes Policy Editors which make the job easy. Home requires you to make the changes by altering Registry settings. But the same changes can still be made ;)
 
Remote Desktop and IIS are biggies for me, and they're only in Pro.

VMWare Server (the free edition) requires IIS. Allows me to have my Linux virtual machine for linux oriented utilities.

Remote Desktop works much better than VNC - it's much smoother. TightVNC works, but it's clunky at times.
 
hmm...interesting. But isn't Remote Desktop the thing you can do with MSN messenger? Or is it something else?

And also, If I get a Core2Duo, will I be able run it on XP Home edition?

I'm looking for the cheapest OS that I can for next rig.
 
I had to look in to it (as I've never used it), but Remote Assistance is what's available in Messenger. The user has to initiate a Remote Assistance request to the 'expert', and then the 'expert' can get access to the machine. It uses Remote Desktop technology, but isn't quite the same thing.

If I need access to my machine at home or at work (I go both ways :D), I can fire up an VPN session, and then establish a Remote Desktop connection to the opposite PC. When it logs me on, it's just like I'm sitting on my PC. Very convenient (to me). TightVNC does the same thing, but the interface doesn't update nearly as well, and it gets 'chunky'.

XP Home would run fine on a C2D.

Vista Home Basic and XP Home are both under $90 at the Egg. XP Pro was $140 when I bought it. It's worth the extra $50 for me... I'd need Vista Business or Ultimate to get the same features (IIS and RD).
 
Ohh ok. I currently run Home XP, and in MSN Live, I can control my friends pc, and he can control mine. Both work the same. So, how is Remote Desktop different exactly? You always need someone else in the other end to accept requests, right?

And I'm glad that running a Core2Duo on XP Home works, since there's really no need for more. I haven't run into something that I cannot do, so it looks pretty good to me. Also, I'm trying to reduce costs as much as possible since I want to keep a budget for my next build.
 
Odin75 said:
Ohh ok. I currently run Home XP, and in MSN Live, I can control my friends pc, and he can control mine. Both work the same. So, how is Remote Desktop different exactly? You always need someone else in the other end to accept requests, right?
Click to expand...

With Remote Desktop - if you have a valid user account on the destination PC, you don't need someone there to accept the connection. (It's really the same as logging into the computer, but from a distance, and with a few limitations - lack of advanced graphical stuff (3D) being one of the most noticable.) What you can get through MSN Live is more like the Remote Assistance features, where you do take control over the other person's desktop...
 
AKM said:
Remote Desktop and IIS are biggies for me, and they're only in Pro.
Click to expand...

That's strange, because my XP home has remote desktop. I use it to run my test machine since it doesn't have a monitor, mouse or keyboard hooked to it.
 
tazman4 said:
That's strange, because my XP home has remote desktop. I use it to run my test machine since it doesn't have a monitor, mouse or keyboard hooked to it.
Click to expand...
It's not strange at all. Any recent version of Windows has the client part of RDP...or it can be installed for free. It's the inbound "server" part that isn't present in XP Home.
 
I love running virtual pc 2007 on pro. Its saved me so much hassle when testing things.
 
djnes said:
It's not strange at all. Any recent version of Windows has the client part of RDP...or it can be installed for free. It's the inbound "server" part that isn't present in XP Home.
Click to expand...

Ahhh, you are correct as usual djnes.
Sorry for the confusion. ;)
My main rig is XP Home, test rig is Pro.
 
anthrex said:
I love running virtual pc 2007 on pro. Its saved me so much hassle when testing things.
Click to expand...

I found VPC2007 killed one of my critical apps (a monitoring system that maintains constant connection with a server). VPC killed the connection and I no longer got real time updates (errr, or any updates at all). Innotek's VirtualBox and VMWare Server both work just fine on the same machine. But yeah, I'm a virtualization junkie now. It's a very cool tool.
 
Something nobody else mentioned... backup.

You'll see it only on Pro's feature sheet.

What MS doesn't tell you is it comes on Home's install CD (actually they have KB articles on it I think... it just isn't an advertized feature). You can install it to any XP Home machine you want.

It's located in E:\VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP or whatever your drive's letter is.
 
Im also considering online gaming (such as Guild Wars, etc) and wondering whether pro has an advantage over Home in terms of security? (or possibly other issues)

Many thanks
 
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