Why XP Professional vs Home or Media Center

[eegle]

My friends tell me I need XP Professional for security reasons. I want to use email, play a game, keep my check register, and surf the net. Which system should I have?

 

[CcXD]

As far as I had experienced, home and professional edition differ in certain things.
For example Professional as its name says, has less wizards for creating or customizing more technical issues such as networks, firewalls, etc. Lets say that home is a bit more automatic than professional. professional lets u do more things, but its interface becomes a bit more for advanced users(complicated should we say).
It depends on how ur windows and technical level is... in my opinion comes down to it.

Hope I helped

CcXD

 

[pscowboy]

Pro is for businesses. Big time extra security and networking stuff.

Home is all you need (cheaper too). By the way, on its' cd, are lots of programs & services you can install yourself that do not happen on first-time setup. It's a matter of research and actual need for you. Better yet, if you have a 98 cd, get the Home Update - even cheaper more (hooray). Just pop in the 98 when the install asks for proof.

 

[KennyG]

Like they said XP has a lot more advanced networking features as well as other things like more features for the built in webserver etc. The extra security things are mainly LAN based security stuff.

One thing to watch out for, sometimes if you're going to be connecting to a school network either locally or by VPN you may need XP pro.

 

[sturm]

to finish on what KennyG was saying. XP Home will not connect to a domain, ie: corporate network/school network. XP Pro will.
If the only thing your doing is a home network then stick with xp home. its just as safe as pro.