Windows XP Professional
and Home Edition Differences
Last updated: 12/2/01
Q. What are the differences between Windows XP
Professional and Home Edition versions?
A. The official Microsoft comparison is at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.asp. I'll
add more detail to this page as I learn more.
In some respects the Home Edition has fewer capabilities
than Windows 98/Me and one must upgrade to the Pro version (and pay noticeably
more) to get them. They include:
- Login into a Windows domain server (Windows NT, 2000
Server) on a local area network.
- Personal Web Server. The Pro version has Microsoft's
Internet Information Server which has a much more sophisticated web server
than the Personal Web Server plus ftp and gopher servers. The IIS
web server can run on the Internet.
I have heard from other sources that the Windows XP upgrade
cannot be used to upgrade Windows 95. When I clean-installed the Home
Edition upgrade on a bare hard disk drive and it asked that a CD from a qualifying
product be inserted in the CD-ROM drive for verification, Windows 95 was
listed as one of the qualifying upgrade products. However, I have not
actually done it yet with a Windows 95 CD.
Windows XP FAQ Index
Windows FAQ Index
Also, see Windows
Tips and Tricks.
|
