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Windows XP/Pro costs a whole heckuvalot more than Windows XP/Home, but for many folks, both at home and at the office, Windows XP/Home beats the pants off Windows XP/Pro. The arguments, both, uh, Pro and Con, may get esoteric and techie very quickly. What's a Dummy to do?
Fortunately, the situation isn't nearly as difficult as you may think. In most situations, if you get to pick the version of Windows XP that's right for you, you want Windows XP/Home. If somebody else makes the decision — presumably a corporate IT department — he or she will probably choose Windows XP/Pro, simply because it fits into the existing PC network better.
You should buy Windows XP/Pro for the following reasons:
- You want to set up a secure, client/server network. If you think Windows XP/Pro itself is expensive, wait until you see the bill for this one.
- Your company wants you to use Windows XP/Pro. It probably has good reasons to spend the extra bucks, mostly centered around security, central administration, and automated backup.
- While you're on the road, you need to dial in to your computer at work and use it directly from your laptop. That demands a feature called Remote Desktop, which runs only with Windows XP/Pro.
- The machine you're currently using runs Windows 2000 Pro (or Windows NT 4), and you want to upgrade it directly to Windows XP, carrying across all your settings.
 | You can upgrade directly from Windows 98 or Windows Me to either Windows XP/Home or Windows XP/Pro, and bring all your settings with you. |
Windows XP/Pro comes in handy in a corporate environment in a few minor ways. For example, it handles Roaming Profiles, which let you log on to any computer on the network and retrieve your settings, and it has built-in security hooks that let you get at folders even when the server is not working (so-called Offline Folders) — but none of the other Windows XP/Pro features are show-stoppers.
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