Why XP Pro over XP home?

[JimmyJ65]

I've noticed a few writers making the point that XP Pro is preferred to XP Home. I just bought two copies of XP home for my wife and my computers. Did I make a mistake? We have a basic network for internet access sharing, and I am a flight sim fanatic. I thought we wouldn't need all the bells and whistles that come in XP pro. Do we?

 

[bozo1]

The features that Pro adds over Home are not used by most home users.

FAQ

 

[Gog]

One of the major benefits of Pro is that it supports MP systems, besides that the differences are nil.

I've recently read however that the Miranda (its currently being developed by MS, as is the tablet PC), which is a monitor/mini portable computer that you can use to wirelessly access your computer, will only be supported by XP Pro.

But for the most part there are no major differences.

 

[Jackal&Cash]

Well Win XP Pro have every the home edition have and add a few more feature that is missing from the home edition. multi processor support, Remote desktop, more secruity, etc... Comparison

 

[RedShirt]

XP home is missing some networking features that even Win98 could do, Pro is not...

However, in a home environment, the networking features are fine and should suit the needs of most home users.

 

[SemperFi]

I have one box with xp pro and one with xp home. I setup the home box to share the printer on the pro machine and I am the only one able to access it. That is because I am the only administrator account on the home box. I really hate the idea of giving the kids admin privlages. There is some other networking aspects that are annoying to me but from what I see there is little difference beyond that.

 

[Jace]

Just FYI, Andy's xp comparison faq needs to be qualified, you can have full ntfs file security in Windows XP Home Edition, I have XP Home and when I installed an old game (that needed to write a .dib file to the c:\windows dir every time it ran) for my daughter who has a limited account, I just booted into Safe Mode as Administrator and gave her write permission to the C:\Windows directory and then she could play the game fine.

I administer XP Pro at work (I'm I.S. Administrator) and when in Safe Mode, XP Home file permissions is identical to that of XP Pro.

Some have also said that you cannot use Remote Assistance to take over another computer with Windows XP Home, but this is not true. I use it all the time to help family/friends. What you cannot do is enable Remote Desktop and connect to the computer remotely through a Remote Desktop connection nor can you take over a Windows XP Pro computer using Remote Desktop. I have taken over an XP Pro computer using Remote Assistance and XP Home. Hope this helps.