I will be editing this list as more people post replies with additions to the list so people wont have to go through pages of posts to know them all.
Here's the list so far:
Differences between XP Home and XP Pro:
------------------------------------------------
1.) XP Pro systems can join a domain; XP Home systems can't, which limits its use to home and SOHO environments because it can't use any corporate-specific features such as IntelliMirror.
2.) Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.1 and Personal Web Server (PWS) are found only in XP Pro.
3.) Direct access to the Administrator account is available only in XP Pro. XP Home users must log on using Safe mode to access the Administrator account.
4.) XP Pro supports Remote Desktop, which is basically a single-user version of Windows 2000 Server Terminal Services. XP Home supports only Remote Assistance.
5.) Networking-related Group Policy Objects (GPO) are available only in XP Pro. XP Home supports no group policies.
6.) Microsoft Remote Installation Services (RIS) and Sysprep are supported only in XP Pro.
7.) The Network Monitor application is available only in XP Pro.
8.) The UI for IP Security (IPSec) is available only in XP Pro.
9.) SNMP support, Simple TCP/IP Services, the service access point (SAP) and Client Services for NetWare (CSNW) are available only in XP Pro.
10.) XP Home supports only simple file sharing. Detailed file-level security permissions such as those found in Win2K are available only in XP Pro, which also supports the simple file-sharing model that XP Home uses.
11.) XP Pro lets users limit the number of connections to shared folders and control user access by account. XP Home users access shared folders through the Guest account, which is disabled by default in XP Pro.
12.) You can upgrade Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Win2K Professional only to XP Pro. You can upgrade Windows 9x versions since Windows 98 only to XP Home. Neither version supports upgrades from Windows 95.
13.) XP Pro has checkbox to remember passwords when connecting to Network computers.
14.) All users in XP Home are Admins making for an inherantly insecure system
15.) XP Home setup does not ask you for a password for the admin account where Pro does
16.) XP Home does not support directly the promotion/demotion of user access rights unless you hack in via MMC
17.) The guest account is not disabled by default in XP Pro. (Czarina)
18.) You won't ever be able to join a Windows domain with XP Home (Czarina)
19.) You don't get Encrypting Files System (EFS) with XP Home (Czarina)
20.) File level NTFS permissions can't be set in XP Home (Czarina)
21.) XP Home supports only a single processor (Czarina)
22.) You can make Windows XP Pro a Web or FTP server, not Windows XP Home (Czarina)
23.) The Automated System Recovery (ASR) feature is included in XP Pro, in addition to System Restore (which is also included in XP Home) (Czarina)
24.) Dynamic disk support you can't make spanned or striped volumes in Windows XP Home, as you can in XP Pro (Czarina)
25.) The Network Monitor this handy tool for capturing data packets that are sent to or from your computer isn't included in XP Home (Czarina)
26.) XP Home and XP Pro can have "limited accounts". (XP Home users do not have to be Admins.) (Czarina)
27.) XP Home has no integrated fax functionality out of the box, though it is an option you can install from the XP Home CD.
28.) "C2" certification - Microsoft will attempt to have XP Pro certified with the "C2" security designation, a largely irrelevant status, but one which will not be afforded to XP Home.
29.) 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 XP Home. 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.
30.) 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 XP Home, which cannot logon to an Active Directory domain.
31.) Only XP Pro is available in a Multi-Language version or support multiple languages in a single install.
Edited by Fenor, 18 September 2005 - 07:03 PM.
Sign In
Create Account
