What is the difference between Windows XP home edition and professional.?

Question

Is it advisable to upgrade(from Win 2000) to professional XP version for home use. I frequently connect to internet and often stay connected for long hours without browsing. Are there any security issues with home edition?

Answer 1

Win XP Home disadv
1.No Remote desktop connection
2.Can only connect to 4 computers in a network
3.Doesn't support encryption
4.Lacks security feauture like advaced domain authentication

so better choose Xp professional

Answer 2

The Home and Professional editions of Windows XP are nearly identical; the only differences are additional features found in the Professional edition that most likely won't appeal to home users. The primary differences, aside from the price and the color of the packaging, are as follows: Windows XP Home Edition Contains basic support for security among multiple users. Built-in support for peer-to-peer networking, but only for up to five computers. The backup utlity is not installed by default, but is included on the CD. Windows XP Professional Edition Includes extended support for security between multiple users on the same machine. Better support for peer-to-peer networking, plus support for joining a "Windows NT domain." The backup utlity is installed by default. The Professional edition includes the following components not found in the Home edition: Administrative Tools (in the Start Menu and Control Panel) Automated System Recovery (ASR) Boot Configuration Manager DriverQuery Group Policy Refresh Utility Multi-lingual User Interface (MUI) add-on NTFS Encryption Utilitiy Offline Files and Folders OpenFiles Performance Log Manager Remote Desktop Scheduled Tasks Console Security Template Utility Taskkill Tasklist Telnet Administrator

Answer 3

biggest differences beween home and pro is home does not support native encryption or high end disk security such as the more recent version of NTFS format. this is only a consideration if you plan on putting sensative content on your computer, in which case you would need to have high end third party security software and antivirus protection anyway. I suggest you just stick with the home edition, for the hundred plus dollars you will save it is worth it. The only feature I have ever had use for in Pro that is not in home is the recovery cousel. but if you don't know how to use it there would be no use for haveing it.

Answer 4

Not a whole lot really. If you go to Microsoft.com, there should be an explanation and chart available.

In general, the most important features of XP Pro:
- Remote Desktop Host
- Ability to join a work domain
- etc

For most people, HOME is just fine, It's not worth the upgrade to Pro unless you know you need the few extra features.

Answer 5

the home edition made for a personality use in house ... but it's cant join to network
and the professional u can use it in network

Answer 6

With Windows XP, the two Windows OS lines merge, so we'll no longer have Windows 2000/Windows NT and Windows Me/Windows 98—just Windows XP. However, we still have two different types of users: the office user and the basic home user with one machine. Hence the two versions of Windows XP: Windows XP Professional, for those accustomed to Win2K Professional/NT Workstation, and Windows XP Home Edition, for those accustomed to Windows Me/Win98.

Although the XP Pro and Home Editions share the same common core code, they don't have the same features. The right version for you depends on the functionality you need. Think of XP Pro as a superset of XP Home. The following is a short list of supported features:

Backup—XP Pro has the standard Win2K backup program available as default; XP Home has no backup program available by default (but one can be installed from the CD).

Dynamic disks—XP Pro supports dynamic disks; XP Home doesn't.

Internet Information Server (IIS)—XP Pro includes IIS; XP Home doesn't.

Encrypted File System (EFS)—EFS debuted in Win2K, and it enables you to encrypt files on an NTFS partition, a very useful feature for mobile machines. XP Pro includes EFS; XP Home doesn't.

Multiple monitors—XP Pro supports up to ten monitors; XP Home supports only one monitor (Windows Me/Win98 supported multiple monitors).

Multiprocessing—XP Pro supports up to two processors; XP Home supports only one (as did Windows Me/Win98).

Remote Assistance—Both editions support Remote Assistance, which lets someone from a Help desk connect to the client desktop to troubleshoot problems.

Remote desktop—XP Pro adds to Remote Assistance by letting any machine running a Terminal Services client run one Terminal Services session against an XP Pro machine.

Domain membership—XP Pro systems can be domain members; XP Home systems can't, but they can access domain resources.

Group Policy—XP Pro supports Group Policies; XP Home doesn't.

IntelliMirror—XP Pro supports IntelliMirror, which includes Microsoft Remote Installation Services (RIS), software deployment, and user setting management; XP Home doesn't support IntelliMirror.

Upgrade from Windows Me/Win98—Both XP Pro and XP Home support this upgrade.

Upgrade from Win2K/NT—Only XP Pro supports this upgrade.

64-bit support—Only XP Pro has a 64-bit version that supports the Itanium systems.

Network support—XP Pro includes support for Network Monitor, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), IP Security (IPSec), and Client Services for NetWare (CSNW); XP Home doesn't.

For the best list of supported features, see the Feature Guide document (FEATGUID.DOC) on the root of the XP CD-ROM.

Answer 7

Let Microsoft answer your question better: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/evaluation/compare.mspx

Answer 8

Wake up. Both are outdated.