Will upgrade to WinXP Pro limit my future upgrade possibilities...

[beornling]

On the new machine I'm building, I'm putting WinXP on it. Since I'm a college student, I can get WinXP Pro upgrade for the same ($99) as I can the Home version. If I do this, will this limit my upgrade options in the future. I'm strictly a "home" OS oriented kind of guy. I don't need all the bells and whistles (and sometimes limitations) that come with the professional versions, but I enjoy playing with them when possible. That being said, if I get the Pro version now, will I not be able to upgrade (from WinXP to WinWHATEVER in the future) to the "home" style version of Microsoft's next OS? I'm asking this because on this page ( Microsoft's upgrade matrix ), it seems as though MS tries to limit you from going back to the home version from what they consider a professional version. So, is WinXP Pro really a professional version that they'll keep me from going back to the home version of their next OS, or is it really just the extended or enhanced edition of their home version while Win2000 and such are the "real" professional versions?

Thanks.

 

[Agent004]

Yes, it does seem like M$ is locking people down to one path so that they can make more money. It just mean the next time when you upgrade, you have to get the pro version to get the student discounts.

The operating system still does the upgrade regardless what verison you pop in there, as long as it's a newer OS

That's why pirate copies flourished, M$ still doesn't understand that.

 

[Lord Evermore]

WinXP Pro is essentially an upgrade (however slight) of 2K Pro. XP Home is Pro with some features disabled. There's nothing in Home that's not in Pro.

"Upgrading" Windows systems isn't recommended anyway.

The problem with "upgrading" from a Pro to Home version is that there's a chance you have features enabled in Pro which aren't available in Home. So you go install Home (whether it's XP Home or the next version of Windows Home edition), and suddenly the system is attempting to do things that your Home version doesn't support.

 

[beornling]

Thanks for the input. My "upgrading" tendencies are to just buy the upgrade and then do a fresh install on a newly formatted drive because it gives me the opportunity to get a fresh start and update all my drivers at once. Since I'm building a new system, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity. So what's the recommendation then? Go with Home or Pro?

 

[ScottyB]

go with pro upgrade, you can do a fresh install, just have to put in your old cd. In the future if you want to upgrade just use that old cd WinMe cd for exampl and get the next home version if you desire. If you upgrade you will still be able to go to the next home or pro version.

 

[SpecialEd]

<< There's nothing in Home that's not in Pro. >>




Actually... I did find something in Home thats not in Pro.... Home has a bigger selection of sound schemes. Although, thats no big deal. The biggest part of Pro thats missing in Home is the ability to join a domain. All domian functions have been removed... you can only have a workgroup network. There are work arounds to this problem, but its annoying. I'd recommend getting Pro, unless you really want those extra sound schemes.

 

[Lord Evermore]

99.9% of people that would even consider Home in the first place aren't in need of Domain functions. And 99.9% of people considering Pro don't care about extra sound schemes. You can always download more themes. I don't consider those a base function of the operating system, so I still say there's nothing in Home that's not in Pro.