XP Home and XP Pro

[facethemusic]

Does anyone know if there are any Pro Tools performance differences between using XP Home and XP Pro? I'm buying a new computer system soon so I'm going to have a few questions.

[Antonio Tarantino]

Basically they operate the same way, except that the PRO edition features some networking and remote networking features needed by big companies.
You can go either way. I prefer the Home Edition, so I have less problems in tweaking windows XP.

[facethemusic]

Hey Antonio,
What do you mean by "tweaking" Windows XP?

[Stone Knife]

If you are a "power user" or interested in high security features, by all means get Pro SP1.
Some of the differences are:

-Disc Imaging (in Pro)
-Can't log on as Administrator except in safe mode w/Home
-Home only has Simple File Sharing
-No Local Users and Groups in Home (lusrmgr.msc)
-Local security Settings missing (secpol.msc)
-Pro has the ability to install help files from other Windows versions, & Allows expert users to initiate a Remote Assistance session instead of depending on a novice to get things going.
-Power Users Group only available in Pro
-Group Policy console which allows you to prevent Messinger from running without editing the Registry for example... in Pro only (gpedit.msc)
-Can't modify Task Scheduler with policies in Home
-Encripting File System: Pro only
-No Offline Files and Folders in Home
-Internet Information Services missing in guess-what
-Automatic System Recovery feature in Backup Utility- Pro only (although Home allows you to create an ASR backup, you can't use it properly)
-Customize Error Reporting and Recovery Console
-Home edition users can't use dynamic disks, so no striped volumes or spanned volumes available
-Remote Desktop, N/A in you-guessed-it
-XP Home computers cannot join a domain
-Roaming User Profiles a huge hassle to set up in XPH
-Audit directory service access, object access, privledge use, process tracking events, disable categories already enabled: included in Pro version
-Support for multiple processors-Pro
-64 Bit CPU support N/A, Homes

There are probably others, but that's the 'shortlist'...

As far as performance tweaking, those settings are accessed in exactly the same places in both versions.

IMHO, there is no reason for the Home version to exist aside from including some people who otherwise would pass on the upgrade because of the price.

If the differences above aren't anything you'll be interested in using, however, the Home version offers the same stability; and Media Player, Internet Explorer, and Outlook Express function exactly the same.