XP Home vs XP Pro

**joshwa** · 04-09-2003, 11:31 AM

Hmmm...

Thinking about buying Windows XP, coz all those built in picture viewers, slideshows etc (and faster boot up) seems quite appealing... but... which should I go for?

I like the fact that Pro has IIS, and also "additional backup and restore features" (whatever that means) - does XP Home not include NT Backup? but I don't think Pro is worth the extra price... especially since I have another PC which has IIS on, and NT Backup etc...

also, would i be cheaper to buy on ebay?

thanks

Josh

**Paul Adams** · 04-09-2003, 11:38 AM

I'd recommend the Home version, simply as Micro Direct have it listed at nearly 50 quid cheaper than the Pro, and I'd never buy a client OS on the strength that is has a web server built in

I also tend to disregard things like "themes" and built-in backup solutions - especially now DVD-RW drives are so cheap and often come with the necessary software.

I've got XP Pro on my work and home PCs, but used XP Home at my girlfriend's and I didn't notice any difference in the features I use.
(XP Pro at home as work pay for it, so why not?

)

**siu99spj** · 04-09-2003, 11:42 AM

What kind of PC do you have? If its pre-1GHz forget it. And don't forget the 1.5GB installation size, though thats not a problem nowadays!

As for Pro/Home installation, thats a matter of needs. Home is pronbably best if you have a small/non-existant network, though Pro has the nicer features you mentioned (As well as supporting a DNS service).

Don't know about the backing up as I just use Ghost. Sorry about that...

As for eBay, it might be cheaper, but don't forget about WPA. If someones registered, you're knackered if you need to...

**joshwa** · 04-09-2003, 12:03 PM

i was thinking of putting it on an epia m10000 (1ghz) with 512mb ddr ram, and 80gb hd. i might just stick with windows 2000 pro, as i could get it cheaper on ebay, and might get a dvd-writer fairly soon, as a back-up solution...

**Trash Man** · 04-09-2003, 12:10 PM

Originally posted by siu99spj
What kind of PC do you have? If its pre-1GHz forget it. And don't forget the 1.5GB installation size, though thats not a problem nowadays!

I have installed XP on a 400 K6-2 system with 128mb of RAM and it worked fine.

**megah0** · 04-09-2003, 12:13 PM

hehe, k6 350 with 64mb of ram and it runs sweetly.

good old xp!

**directhex** · 04-09-2003, 12:14 PM

RIGHT then.

XP Pro has slightly more control when things go wrong than XP Home

XP Pro includes a single-user Remote Desktop server, allowing you to log in to your pc remotely (like VNC but much better, check Accessories\Communications\Remote Desktop Connection)

XP Pro supports dual processors.

That's about it. I run Pro, but if i had to buy it meself i'd stick with Home.

--jo

**siu99spj** · 04-09-2003, 12:16 PM

Well, it will run a little slow on that, not critically, but probably best if you turn off most of the fancy stuff.

512MB RAM and 80GB HDD will be fine. 2000 is OK, but XP is much more compatible with stuff and lots of people are shunning all older OS support.

DVD-Writers are supported in XP but you might need SP1 to fully support it.

**Jiff Lemon** · 04-09-2003, 12:52 PM

Hehehehe, I've actually got it running on my 233 laptop with a paltry 114mb RAM!

Sure its not the speediest of things, but as its mainly used for terminal services work its fine.

For cheapness you could look for an OEM edition - however, be aware that this has implications for uprading.

**Flibb** · 04-09-2003, 12:57 PM

Just wondered what the cheapest price for XP home is?
Cheers
Flibb

**joshwa** · 04-09-2003, 02:16 PM

Does XP have a built in DVD playback?

Saw XP Home OEM for about £67 at ebuyer.com

**Paul Adams** · 04-09-2003, 02:27 PM

No, Media Player complains that it doesn't have the right codecs when you try to play DVDs.

But, I think if you install some trial DVD playing software it's enough to put the codecs on such that Media Player can play them.

That said, most DVD drives seem to be bundled with player software anyway, although I bought PowerDVD as it's pretty good software

**joshwa** · 04-09-2003, 02:43 PM

The DVD-drive I bought didn't come with any software, the GF4-ti4200 did, the Radeon 9000 I bought didn't, and this M10000 I bought which has built in gfx and mpeg2 decoding, doesn't come with DVD playback software.... it's a bit of a grey area I think, in that sometimes gfx come with players (like my G400 did), and sometimes they just don't... it's a pain I tell yer

**Trickle** · 05-09-2003, 03:47 PM

If I were buying another copy of XP, I would buy home edition and use an independant free piece of software to do VNC as directhex mentions. Imho, there isnt much that Pro can do that interests me that home cant.

**directhex** · 05-09-2003, 04:22 PM

OEM Windows has lisencing issues - you CAN just whack it in the drive & install it, but it's not legal to do so without doing things like installing SBSI and having a valid OEMINFO.INI

--jo

**rhys** · 09-09-2003, 12:33 AM

i personally prefer PRO, it has some nice features built into it that I probably couldn't live without now

it has superior domain support etc

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