Home:Pro

Windows XP Home Edition vs. Professional Edition: What's the difference?

Many things, the most notables: (included in Pro but not in Home, correct me if I'm wrong)

- IIS
- Remote Desktop
- Multi-processor support
- Encrypting File System

....

Pro has NTFS, Home (IIRC) does not.

Home is kind of buggy too.

Home has NTFS, but not by default.

NTFS is the default OS on XP, all versions, unless you're doing an upgrade from a fat32 (9x) system, in which case you are prompted to retain fat or upgrade to NTFS when you install. Try installing an OEM copy for yourself if you don't believe me :).

The ONLY justifications for spending the extra money on pro:

1.) Need for multi-processor support

2.) Need for remote desktop.

99% of people will never use either of thse features. If you're willing to pay the extra $100 for Pro for features you REALLY don't need, though, be my guest -- just please don't complain that Windows is "too expensive".

You can get IIS in other ways (such as DOWNLOADING IT FROM MICROSOFT.COM...).

By the time there is any real need for multi-processor support, longhorn will be out anyway, and that'll have native support in both / all versions for multi processors.

btw, there are better options in my experience for remote desktop

A 'friend' did a binary comparison against Home VS Pro after they came out and only found regionalization differences, and a few bit flips.