XP Home versus XP Pro.

[morland]

Hi,

What extra does XP Pro. offers that is not available in XP Home.

Will appreciate your reply.

[nmX.Memnoch]

The main differences:

• The ability to join a domain - XP Home can't be joined to a domain (XP MCE can't either)
  
• Support for two physical CPUs - XP Home only supports one physical CPU*
  

* Contrary to "popular" belief, XP Home can take advantage of both Hyperthreading and multi-core CPUs. You just can't use more than one physical CPU. So if you had a single dual-core CPU, XP Home will use both cores. But if you have a dual CPU system, XP Home will only use the first CPU.

[morland]

Thanks for the reply nmX.Memnoch - Appreciate it especially because given the differences I was just about to make the mistake of finalizing XP Home as the O/S for my other desktop which has a Core 2 Duo.

[nmX.Memnoch]

XP Home will use both cores of the Core 2 Duo.

[denzilla]

Don't forget that Pro also has the group policy editor, which may or may not be of use to you

[morland]

Thanks nmX.Memnoch and denzilla,

The PC will be for Home use but I'm a bit confused i.e. Will the HE (Home Edition) use only 1 Core or booth BTW, the only 'networking related' will be accessing a Wireless Access Point.

What about things like restore point? What else could I possibly need that the Pro version offers and which i "MAY" need even if it's being used at Home???

[Idontwantspam]

1. With a core 2 duo, both cores will be used.
   
2. *Most* group policies can be set through the registry. Not all though.
   
3. Wireless is fine
   
4. Yes, MCE can be joined to a domain.
   

Just my $0.02

[morland]

Thanks... I'll take it from here and see what additional information (regarding the missing features in HE) can be found.

Regards.

[denzilla]

1. With a core 2 duo, both cores will be used.
   
2. *Most* group policies can be set through the registry. Not all though.
   
3. Wireless is fine
   
4. Yes, MCE can be joined to a domain.
   

Just my $0.02

XP Home will use both cores in a core duo or X2 as well. Its running two physical cpus that Home will not do.

[nmX.Memnoch]

The PC will be for Home use but I'm a bit confused i.e. Will the HE (Home Edition) use only 1 Core or booth

It will use both cores of a dual-core CPU (and even all four cores of a quad-core CPU).

4. Yes, MCE can be joined to a domain.

Not legally.

Can I connect a new PC running Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 to a work network or domain?

While you can access network resources on a work network or a domain, you cannot join a Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 PC to the domain. PCs running Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 are designed specifically for home use. Windows XP Professional features, specifically Domain Join and Cached Credentials (Credentials Manager for logons) are not included. As a result, you will be prompted for your logon user name and password to access network resources after you reboot or log back on to the PC. In addition, file shares or network resources that are set to require a domain-joined PC for access will not be available. Remote Desktop and Encrypting File System support are still included.

Edited September 1, 2007 by nmX.Memnoch

[Idontwantspam]

There is nothing in the Windows XP Media Center 2005 EULA saying that joining a domain is prohibited. It's just changing one registry value, so I don't see how it's illegal. They say it's "not designed to" and that those features aren't "included", but it doesn't say it's illegal. Also, it should be noted that during setup, you are actually given the option to join a domain; the option is just grayed out later.

[Sonic]

btw if MCE is sysprep' , domain is asked during "oobe" part without any registry touch ....

[Idontwantspam]

[nmX.Memnoch]

Legal or not what's the point since joining it to a domain breaks the ability to use Media Center Extenders? Unless, of course, you're buying it since it's cheaper than Professional. It's not a supported environment so if you opt to run your company/domain on MCE you can pretty much count on no support from Microsoft if you have problems.

[Sonic]

Legal or not what's the point since joining it to a domain breaks the ability to use Media Center Extenders? Unless, of course, you're buying it since it's cheaper than Professional. It's not a supported environment so if you opt to run your company/domain on MCE you can pretty much count on no support from Microsoft if you have problems.

I'm agree too on that point.