XP Home has super weak networking abilities compared to XP Pro. Peer to peer maxes out at 5 computers, major problems on a domain based network, and despite what people say, it is more likely to have problems than pro at LAn parties. Note, I am not saying it won't work most of the time, just saying there are sometimes strange innabilities to find/connect to a game. Pro is a safer bet and has many other features not in the crippled Home version.
Remember the nightmare stories about college kids showing up to school with their new Dell XP home machines? See this college help article:
<A HREF="http://www.oberlin.edu/cit/resnet/XPhome_setup.html" target="_new">http://www.oberlin.edu/cit/resnet/XPhome_setup.html</A>
Microsofts take on the two:
<A HREF="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/evaluation/overviews/joindomain.asp" target="_new">http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/evaluation/overviews/joindomain.asp</A>
XP Home networking pitfuls discussed here
<A HREF="http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6270-1040571.html" target="_new">http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6270-1040571.html</A>
"Windows XP Home Version Bedevils Company Networks"
<A HREF="http://www.compstar.com/IT_Michiana/xphome.htm" target="_new">http://www.compstar.com/IT_Michiana/xphome.htm</A>
Here is a discussion we had on this while you were gone.
<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=172751#172751" target="_new">http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=172751#172751</A>
Anyway, read these and you'll agree with me that Pro is worth the extra money. I used to buy XP home lic. for my systems, now I am trying to go all pro. I very often run more than 5 machines on my home lan though and have personally often seen the frustrating network shortfalls of the XP home machines.
Thus, I am not happy with MS for creating this crippled lite version and would like pro for under $100, but can't do much about it. For people with 1 or 2 home computers who don't need any networking abilities beyond XP Home, I still save them money with Home, but I now always offer a Pro upgrade. Have to or I'd feel bad, or have some explaining to do later.
ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt