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"Windows XP Home/Pro - advice"

I currently have Windows Me on my PC and I'm considering buying XP.

PC is a MAXX P4 1.7GHz, 256Mb RAM, GeForce3 graphics card, SoundBlaster Live! soundcard, and Pyro videocapture card.

Can anyone tell me if it's worth going for the Home or Pro version? (I know Pro is significantly more expensive, but for the sake of this post, assume that price is not an issue.)

a) What does Pro offer that Home doesn't?
b) How well (if at all) does games software function under either version of XP?

I do not want to bother with a dual-boot setup, and I don't want to lose the ability to play my existing games.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Cheers, I'll have a looksie.

Wookie

ms have made some pretty nice scrensavers and addons for XP.

links to them are available here. OIncluding upgrades for mp3, dvd and other stuff.

www.
windowsxp.nu /

blimey

Missing from that post is the point that the pro version has alot of issues with opengl which may require a new driver or a hacked driver. I use an ancient 3dfx card, and currently use a driver I got from a 3dfx related website.

ttfn

I'd used windows 2000pro since its launch and it gave faultless performance.

After using the pre release version for 2months, I plumped for the pro version

My university (and alot of others) sell licenses and cd of MS software cheaply to staff (Sheffield for 15, liverpool a pound ! fantastic!). Since this removed price as a factor I installed XP pro.

Something I've noticed is that you really need to get the latest drivers for your hardware from the vendors to ensure plane sailing, this is especially true of cd writers.

A bonus is the improved ms messenger which supports webcam videoconversations with other XP machines (pro and home)

.

Some advice of my own regarding XP.

Stay WELL clear. It's not worth the money. Give things a few months and then get one of the updated versions with some of the more major issues resolved.

Also, by this stage hardware companies will be releasing hardware guarenteed to work with it.

well this is because of a new feature that ms windows xp has, its called activation:
it will copy the details of the first pc it is installed into and hence prevents the user from installing the software on other pc's ith different configurations.

I tried to install windows XP.......

Half way through install the bloomin' thing stopped being able to access my CD-ROM drive and therefore couldn't copy any files to my HDD.......

The thing worked on my dad's PC, but not mine......

kingklik wrote:
> Then, once Windows was up-and-running, XP installed ALL of
> my drivers without need any extra discs.

Same here. Though I discovered over the weekend that my modem won't function properly; it's been detected as a "Best Data Data Fax Modem", and while it will answer the line, it won't dial out!

Like Wookie, I was extremely impressed. My computer was in a bit of a shagged-out state so I bought the Full Home edition (from SR, incidentally) and was amazed. I had reformatted my Hard Drive so it required a full install rather than an upgrade. So, I booted-up my computer, popped in the CD and followed the simple instructions. Then, once Windows was up-and-running, XP installed ALL of my drivers without need any extra discs.
Windows XP is definately the best operating system I have ever used. It's stable, fast (particularly at start-up) and the interface has a natural feel to it (although it'll take a few minutes to become accustomed to it).

My conclusion? Splash out on XP. Now.

Glad to here your impressed, Im still waiting for my demo CD, Ill probably stick with ME for now due to a shortage of funds.