XP home or XP pro

[Lefty Scaevola]

For my next home computer, for a family with no one having any significant skill in fiddling with system of OS settings, or much on any no user freidly IT skill, do I want windows XP home or windows XP pro.

 

[Ankka]

Home, AFAIK is made for home use () And I think it should be better (and cheaper IIRC).

 

[Centrifuge]

Pro and home both are made for home use. The "feel" of the 2 is the same. AFAIK The main benefit with Pro is that it has greater networking ability. I currently have both home and pro on my home pcs, and to be honest it is really hard to tell the difference.

If you will just be having 1 computer, that you don't really care about the fine details of the OS, you will be perfectly okay with XP home.

It's cheaper, and the differences for the average user are minimal.

 

[Lefty Scaevola]

We have a LAN at home, ethernet type with a lynksis router, with devices being perodicly plug in and detatched at some connections. Price in not a high prioity compared to fuctionality. I am a bit concerned that is XP pro allows more flexibilty in system and OS setting, that there is more chance of fouling things up.

 

[Centrifuge]

To be honest, for the most part it is pretty idiot proof. Almost everything can be done through "wizards" or there is a help section built in that can answer most questions.

 

[Inter4]

If money isn't problem then get Pro. Even if the advantages are just a few it's better having them.

BTW, I have XP Pro.

 

[Turner]

Yeah, if money isn't a problem, go with Pro. I've heard of a lot of problems with game playing (assuming you still play Civ) with Home, and I've never had a problem with any of the games I've played with Pro. Even with a Pro overlay on 98SE. My system has been pretty stable, for the most part.

 

[hbdragon88]

The main difference in Home and Pro (that I read) is that with Home you can only network 5 computers. But with Pro it's unlimited.

 

[WildFire]

Home is better.

Plus, I've never had anything wrong with it (except for 3 virus's, two random crashes and random rebooting.)



(kidding, no problems thus far with home)

 

[damunzy]

Go with Home, Lefty. From what you stated you are going to be doing with your system at home you won't need Pro - but make sure the PC is powerful enough to handle it. I'd recommend 900+ MHz and 256 MB of RAM - minimum.

 

[Ankka]

I say get Win 98 SE and you won't need but a 500 MHz prosessor and 128 MB RAM + 1 GB of free harddisc space.

98 SE is propably IMHO the best for gaming, as it supports DOS games and older ones better than XP as far as I've tested...

 

[Phantom Lord]

Pro probably is better because I imagine MS to have designed Home by simply "cutting away" parts from Pro.

To avoid "fouling things up" you may introduce different users for your family and keep the admin rights for yourself. Besides that, use Opera as browser and install AdAware.

If you have a LAN you may also want to store user profiles on a server, so everyone has his / her own profile on every machine.

 

[Jeratain]

Originally posted by Wizard
I say get Win 98 SE and you won't need but a 500 MHz prosessor and 128 MB RAM + 1 GB of free harddisc space.

98 SE is propably IMHO the best for gaming, as it supports DOS games and older ones better than XP as far as I've tested...

Maybe 5 years ago.

 

[Ankka]

Well, that's what I was using still half a year ago... Until I upgraded a bit. New videocard + a little more RAM. And it plays C3C perfectly well except on maps over the size large... So no use of a better one, this one's gonna last for a long time still.

 

[Aphex_Twin]

Originally posted by Jeratain
Maybe 5 years ago.

Today it works just as well. Unless Microsoft will get a monopoly on computer games also (How I dread that day)...

 

[Ankka]

So do I.. But I doubt it.

BTW, 98 SE seems to be even better for playing purposes, as it uses less RAM and allows the game to have a bigger chunk.

 

[ainwood]

I have both XP "Home" and "Pro". The main difference: The colour of the little start-up bar (green vs blue)

Pro has more security features. But overall, both are fine, with little difference for the not-overly-techie user.

 

[Jeratain]

Originally posted by Aphex_Twin


Today it works just as well. Unless Microsoft will get a monopoly on computer games also (How I dread that day)...

Windows 98 will no longer be supported by Microsoft. It is already being phased out, just like Windows 95 is now obsolete.

 

[funxus]

Originally posted by ainwood
I have both XP "Home" and "Pro". The main difference: The colour of the little start-up bar (green vs blue)

I thought the color depended on the what scheme you're using in windows, i.e. Olivegreen, Normal and the silver one...

 

[zulu9812]

If you're worried about someone fouling up windows, you can actually create rollback points in XP. You need a lot of disk space, but it basically backs up your data and settings up until that time and date, and if you really **** up, you can just roll windows back to that 'checkpoint'.