Difference between Windows xp professional and home edition?

Question

Difference between Windows xp professional and home edition?

Answer 1

To answer your question, the main difference is that a web server (like MS' IIS) can exist on XP Professional, but not on Home. This is not a concern to most people, though. XP Pro is also intended for use in a networked environment like an office, while the networking support for XP Home is more suited to a small, home networking environment.

Answer 2

Windows Xp Professional Features

Answer 3

A lot of excellent answers here

Answer 4

Hello! Someone in my Twitter feed shared this question so I came to look it over. I'm definitely enjoying the information. I'm bookmarking and will be tweeting it to my followers!

Answer 5

Was curious on the answer to this as well

Answer 6

First, although it's wrong to use a pirated OS, there's a good chance it'll run ok and won't deactivate, so I wouldn't worry about that (just don't tell anyone lol)



The differences are basically that Pro has a few features that are aimed more at you guessed it... professionals. I don't know exactly what features, but I did some comparing a while back, and Pro has things home users probably will never use, basically. The bottom line is, as a home user, you're not missing anything. Actually, you probably have a better performing version now.

Answer 7

The professional version is aimed at business systems, although it works the same, it does have slightly better security.

It is also a smaller program, and runs somewhat faster.



One of the biggest differences for networking features between Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home Edition is the lack of domain membership support in Home Edition. A Windows XP Professional computer can join a domain and function as a domain member. Domain membership extends the benefits of distributed security to the Windows XP desktop, enabling users to easily access domain resources. It also lets the user share resources with other users and authenticate those users against the domain rather than require individual accounts on the local computer.



By contrast, computers running XP Home Edition cannot be domain members, although they can access resources on a domain member in the same way workgroup members running other Windows platforms can access domain resources. They can connect to and use network file and printer shares, provided they have a valid account in the domain.

Answer 8

Pro features that aren't in Home Edition

The following features are not present in Windows XP Home Edition.



* Power user Remote Desktop - All versions of Windows XP--including Home Edition--support Remote Assistance, which is an assisted support technology that allows a help desk or system administrator to remotely connect to a client desktop for troubleshooting purposes. But Only Pro supports the new Remote Desktop feature, which is a single-session version of Terminal Services with two obvious uses: Mobile professionals who need to remotely access their corporate desktop, and remote administration of clients on a network. You can access a Windows XP Remote Desktop from any OS that supports a Terminal Services client (such as Windows 98 and, interestingly XP Home). XP Home can act as the client in a Remote Desktop session; only Pro can be the server.

* Multi-processor support - Windows XP Pro supports up to two microprocessors, while Home Edition supports only one.

* Automated System Recovery (ASR) - In a somewhat controversial move, Microsoft has removed the Backup utility from the default Windows XP Home Edition, though it is available as an optional installation if you can find it on the CD-ROM (hint: it's in the /valueadd folder). The reason for this the integration of Microsoft's new Automated System Recovery (ASR) tool into Backup. In Pro, ASR will help recover a system from a catastrophic error, such as one that renders the system unbootable. ASR-enabled backups are triggerable from XP Setup, allowing you to return your system to its previous state, even if the hard drive dies and has to be replaced. Unlike consumer-oriented features such as System Restore, ASR is not automatic: It must manually be enabled from within the Backup utility in Windows XP Pro. In any event, while there is a Backup utility available for Home Edition, you cannot use ASR, even though mentions of this feature still exist in the UI. Confusing? Yes. But it's better than no Backup at all, which was the original plan.

* Dynamic Disk Support - Windows XP Professional (like its Windows 2000 equivalent) supports dynamic disks, but Home Edition does not (instead, HE supports only the standard Simple Disk type). Dynamic disks are not usable with any OS other than Windows 2000 or Windows XP Pro, and they cannot be used on portable computers. Likewise, Home Edition does not include the Logical Disk Manager.

* Fax - Home Edition has no integrated fax functionality out of the box, though it is an option you can install from the XP Home CD.

* Internet Information Services/Personal Web Server - Home Edition does not include the IIS Web server 5.1 software found in Pro.



* Security Encrypting File System - Windows XP Professional supports the Encrypting File System (EFS), which allows you encrypt individual files or folders for local security (EFS is not enabled over a network). EFS-protected files and folders allows users to protect sensitive documents from other users.

* File-level access control - Any user with Administrator privileges can limit access to certain network resources, such as servers, directories, and files, using access control lists. Only Windows XP Professional supports file-level access control, mostly because this feature is typically implemented through Group Policy Objects, which are also not available in Home Edition.

* "C2" certification - Microsoft will attempt to have Windows XP Professional certified with the "C2" security designation, a largely irrelevant status, but one which will not be afforded to Home Edition.



* Management Domain membership - Home Edition cannot be used to logon to an Active Directory domain. For obvious reasons, the Domain Wizard is also missing in Home Edition.

* Group Policy - Since Home Edition cannot be used to logon to an Active Directory domain, Group Policy--whereby applications, network resources, and operating systems are administered for domain users--is not supported either.

* IntelliMirror - Microsoft lumps a wide range of semi-related change and configuration management technologies under the IntelliMirror umbrella, and none of these features are supported in the consumer oriented Home Edition. IntelliMirror capabilities include user data management; centrally-managed software installation, repair, updating, and removal; user settings management; and Remote Installation Services (RIS), which allows administrators to remotely install the OS on client systems.

* Roaming profiles - This feature allows users to logon to any computer in an Active Directory network and automatically receive their customized settings. It is not available in Home Edition, which cannot logon to an Active Directory domain.



* Corporate deployment Multi-language support - Only Windows XP Professional will ship in a Multi-Language version or support multiple languages in a single install.

* Sysprep support - Windows XP Pro w

Answer 9

Dont waste your time, any XP Pro downloaded are most likely pirated using illegal keys, it may install now and work for a while, but as soon as SP2 goes on or one of the later updates, it will most likely disable your OS render it useless.

Answer 10

Home Edition was aimed for the general home user, and Professional was for businesses and advanced users. Professional had some advanced features that Microsoft decided home users wouldn't use, like user security, Remote Desktop servers, multi-processor support, IIS, and backup; those features were disabled or removed in Home Edition.



Although some illegitimate copies of Windows on BitTorrent trackers do have malicious software slipstreamed into the installer, most copies of Windows are mere copies or versions with extraneous bloat removed. As long as you don't use any license key generator that came with the disc image, or a copy of Windows with the license key already slipstreamed in, it would be just like ordering a ten-dollar disc from Microsoft; you'll still be obeying their EULA by purchasing a legitimate license key from Microsoft to install XP Pro on your computer.



Service Packs are packs of updates for Windows that are released by Microsoft. They may be simply a rollup of Tuesday updates since the last time there was a Service Pack, or it could add new and exciting features to Windows that Microsoft were generous enough not to sell as a new "product". Service Pack 3 for XP was a set up updates and ports of new Vista features, such as Black hole router detection.