hi, "basically an admission ", silly presumption oh'no we were all given laptops a for home and a pc'c to help with work loads,and broadband at home,i work for an insurance company , and on maternity leave you can work from home , if you wish to do so. Your perception that xp pro corp, is only used by some it pro's is absurd , to say the least, i presume anyone that drives a porsche is a racing driver, and anyone that wears nike runners is a top athlete, etc, you get the picture!!!!!! all operating systems proff and home systems are built for the end user, not for techies, techies assist and support the end user, with their skills, do you really think computers were made to network and applications were made for them , just so techies could repair or adjust them, and correct settings they might require just for the sake of it !, xp pro is better for networking larger domains etc, and security aspects, the word xp pro does not mean its for techies but end users that need its more powerful requirements hope you comprehend ,and reply