Windows XP - Home or Pro

M

m22au

Can anyone suggest which version of Windows XP I should upgrade to?

I specifically use my PC for trading, and apart from that - just general web browsing and MS Office.
 
The Home and Pro versions are essentially the same (although the Pro has somewhat more advanced networking support among other minor additions). Basically, if you are upgrading from Win98 or WinMe, you can save quite a few bucks and use the Home version. If you are upgrading from WinNT or Win2000 you must use the Pro version.
 
I strongly suggest upgrading to XP. It's been working great for me. I previously used Windows 2000.

Be sure to download free service packs when it informs you some are available. This is important to safeguard you from security threats over the internet!
 
I currently run XP Home Version (there is also an XP Professional in existence which is to XP home what Windows 2000 is to Windows 98) on my home computer which is networked to 2 laptops running Windows 2000 Professional. I had a networking tech firm set up my systems about 3 months ago and here was their observation: Networking is very easy and stable with Windows 2000 Professional. Not true with Windows XP Home. Regarding XP Professional, they were somewhat new to it vs Windows 2000 Professional and their comments should therefore be taken with a grain of salt. Like "FasterPussyCat" said, Windows 2000 Pro works very well, is well understood by tech types and is stable which is a key thing in our business. Therefore there is no compelling reason to change.
 
Believe me - for what you are planning on using your computer:
trading, email, internet browsing and MS Office you do not need XP. Windows 2000 as mentioned earlier is good enough (just make sure that you apply patches regulary and service packs after you install it) You would also need a decent machine (memory + hard disk space) to run XP if you still plan on upgrading to it.

Security-wise it is highly recommeded if you'd use at least any of NT based systems Windows NT4 (even if it is old) W2K or XP.
 
there is also an XP Professional in existence which is to XP home what Windows 2000 is to Windows 98
More...

"what Windows 2000 is to Windows 98". No , not really ...
 
Originally posted by fkeane
there is also an XP Professional in existence which is to XP home what Windows 2000 is to Windows 98
More...
Not true, and you don't understand the two operating systems (as FX-Trader also noted). I already answered this in the 2nd post in the thread, XP's two versions share the same NT-based kernel, they are essentially the exact same product with minor differences. Microsoft is marketing the cheaper Home edition as an upgrade to Win98 and WinMe. Microsoft is requiring the more expensive "Pro" edition if you are upgrading from WinNT or Win2000. Simple as that.

Please note, I'm not recommending an upgrade to XP, and not going off-topic as a number of people have by getting into a debate as to whether one should go with (any version of) XP or Win2000. All I'm doing is answering the question of the person who started this thread.
 
Thanks to everyone for their input.

Just to be clear, I'm actually using Windows 98 right now, and not W2K as some people have been assuming.

Based on the comments I think I will upgrade to XP Home, as I won't be needing to network with any other computers.

A related question -

What processor speed and RAM should I be using with Windows XP? Right now I have a Celeron 533 and 256 MB RAM, and I'm not sure if it is enough.
 
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