WinXP Pro vs. MCE

[imported_Kensai]

What's the difference?
I can get both for free. (Legit copies, not stolen.)
And which one would be better for a HTPC/ 7th System.

 

[rbV5]

If its MCE 2005, I'd go with it if you've got the hardware and don't need to join a domain.

 

[imported_Hi]

MCE2005 is built on XP Pro with the extra media capablities

first hand experiance its better

 

[imported_Kensai]

Then why is MCE cheaper than XP Pro at retail?

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: Kensai
Then why is MCE cheaper than XP Pro at retail?

There is no retail version of MCE. It's cheaper because they are pushing it hard to OEMs.

 

[imported_Hi]

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: Kensai
Then why is MCE cheaper than XP Pro at retail?

There is no retail version of MCE. It's cheaper because they are pushing it hard to OEMs.

check newegg you can buy the OS the remote and all the good stuff

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: Hi

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: Kensai
Then why is MCE cheaper than XP Pro at retail?

There is no retail version of MCE. It's cheaper because they are pushing it hard to OEMs.

check newegg you can buy the OS the remote and all the good stuff

Thank you captain obvious.

 

[imported_Hi]

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: Hi

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: Kensai
Then why is MCE cheaper than XP Pro at retail?

There is no retail version of MCE. It's cheaper because they are pushing it hard to OEMs.

check newegg you can buy the OS the remote and all the good stuff

Thank you captain obvious.

you sir are welcome

 

[dashiki]

OEM doesn't mean they don't sell it

the MCE that newegg sells is OEM, Captain

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: Hi
MCE2005 is built on XP Pro with the extra media capablities first hand experiance its better

MCE is built on the XP code base with a feature set somewhere between home and pro + the MCE capabiliites.

Bill

 

[imported_Hi]

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: Hi
MCE2005 is built on XP Pro with the extra media capablities first hand experiance its better

MCE is built on the XP code base with a feature set somewhere between home and pro + the MCE capabiliites.

Bill

its built on XP Pro code because almost every program labels it Pro instead of MCE2K5

 

[bsobel]

its built on XP Pro code because almost every program labels it Pro instead of MCE2K5

You remain incorrect. Saying something is 'built on Pro' has no real meaning. It's built on the XP code base. Home, Pro, MCE, Tablet, etc are just flavors with different default and allowed capabilities, they are all built on the same code base. MCE is best described as having a feature set between home and pro. While it has remote desktop (from Pro), it has network credential storage not available (which is how Home ships).

Bill

 

[airfoil]

So does MCE support NTFS?

 

[beatle]

Originally posted by: airfoil
So does MCE support NTFS?

Yes.

You CAN join a domain with MCE as long as you do it in the initial install.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: beatle

Originally posted by: airfoil
So does MCE support NTFS?

Yes.

You CAN join a domain with MCE as long as you do it in the initial install.

NOT recommended though, because if you find yourself with an extender in the future, you'll end up in this situation.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Thank you y'all.

 

[gabemcg]

I'm running MCE 2005 on my primary PC...

It IS Xp Pro, the instillation disk even says "Installing WinXP Pro" when you are copying system files to the HD

It just has some extra media related software integrated into the OS, and it comes with a new theme for windows. PIC of my desktop: Here

 

[imported_Kensai]

But is it worth using over WinXP Pro?

 

[bsobel]

It IS Xp Pro, the instillation disk even says "Installing WinXP Pro" when you are copying system files to the HD

Again, while it's a small technical point, it's not XP Pro. It's MCE. The feature set is slightly different (not counting the obvious MCE interface and components). I run tablet edition on my tablet, it's also not Pro but very similar. In that case it has all of the feature set of Pro plus the tablet functions. For MCE it has actually a couple places were pro functionality has been removed or disabled (like the credential store).

Bill

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: airfoil
So does MCE support NTFS?

Yes, the difference over Pro are lack of official domain support (as people have noted, you can add it to a domain, but you will break the extender functionality) and the credential store (cached network passwords) has been removed (unless your upgrading from MCE 2004 which had that functionality). All of the other XP home/pro features are there.

Bill

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: Kensai
But is it worth using over WinXP Pro?

I think that is the big question.

Unless you need some of the actaul media functions ( TV capture etc; ) then maybe..

Other than that, I would stick to Pro.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: bjc112

Originally posted by: Kensai
But is it worth using over WinXP Pro?

I think that is the big question.

Unless you need some of the actaul media functions ( TV capture etc; ) then maybe..

Other than that, I would stick to Pro.

Actually, I think the better question is:
Since MCE is cheaper, unless you need cached credentials or the ability to "officially" join a domain, why buy Pro?

Anyways, it looks like MS is going to fold the media capabilities of MCE into Longhorn, which I think is an awesome idea!

 

[imported_Kensai]

I can get both for free so I just want to know what will be more effective for an HTPC.

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: Kensai
I can get both for free so I just want to know what will be more effective for an HTPC.

Obviously MCE..... why do you keep asking the same Q in the same non-specific way? Unless you have a specific need for XP pro which has been explained already in the thread, or some application you want to run specifically that is not supported in MCE (whatever that would be I dunno)

If the HTPC specific hardware you want to use is not supported by MCE outright for media functions, it's essentially Win XP "mostly" pro, and you could use most any software you could use in Win XP. Then "if' you decided to add MCE specific supported hardware later on, you would have the native OS support...whats to decide?