Topic: xp pro

[anomaly]

ok, im about to buy an copy of win xp pro. before i do, does anyone know how or where to get it cheap? ive been looking around but it seams the best deal i can find is this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116049

just figured id ask before i go and spend too much just to find out later and get mad. 

[Farmchild]

What you linked was Media Center Edition, which isn't the same as Professional Edition.

[anomaly]

ummmm... ok.  i guess i was wrong in thinking that MCE was XP pro with....MCE added on to it?

at any rate. the the cheapest i can find "xp pro" is like $139

[Farmchild]

It definitely doesn't include all features of XP Pro.  For instance, MCE machines can't join a Active Directory Domain.  Granted, you may not need any of the features from XP Pro, so you still might want to consider it.

[anomaly]

well i need dual core support, so xp home is out. but other than that i just need to be able to network my media center(streams internet radio 24/7), gaming rig, laptop and bedroom pc. i don't do much other stuff really than game and other normal stuff. sure i like to poke around here and there but other than performance and havening a home network i don't really need much else.

what version of XP do you think i would be happy with?

[Smackintosh]

You should get the MLP edition, its the best version of XP available EVER!

For those of you not cool enough to know, it's the "My Little Pony Edition"...
came with free rainbow tail tassels.

[Jader]

yeah i think meph told me about that... He was really excited about the tassels.   He said he was going to use them in a dance he came up with?  I dont know what that meant... but it sounded pretty cool 

[anomaly]

just just looked around on newegg.... there sold out of MLP version. 

i wanted the rainbow thingy too.... 

[anomaly]

ok guys, but seriously. what version of windows should i get? 

i have a dual core so i guess XP home is not for me, right?
i like performance, so Vista is not for me, right?
and i want to network my PC's for file sharing

the slowest computer i will be using is a 1.33Ghz PIII with 1 Gb of ram. any help with this would be awesome. i would say i have a good understanding of XP Pro but anytime ive ever messed with XP Home or XP MCE i never really noticed any difference between them.

i just dont want to buy the wrong OS cuz im noobish on the feature differences of the XP family.

[mephisto_kur]

XP Home supports dual core 9and quad), just not mutli-processor.

[anomaly]

i see, so do you think home is the way to go? between home and pro its like a $50 difference

[Farmchild]

The biggest differences I know between XP Home and Pro are Pro can join a domain ( You won't use unless you have a Server Box ), and XP Pro ( and MCE ) come with the ability to remote desktop into them.

If all you want is a gaming machine and a home network ( no domain ), and don't care about remote desktop, there's no reason I know of to get higher than home edition.

[Neocorteqz]

The biggest differences I know between XP Home and Pro are Pro can join a domain ( You won't use unless you have a Server Box ), and XP Pro ( and MCE ) come with the ability to remote desktop into them.

If all you want is a gaming machine and a home network ( no domain ), and don't care about remote desktop, there's no reason I know of to get higher than home edition.

Actually I believe it's the addition of the windows firewall.

there are other differences, but you can join a domain in home, it's a standard in windows networking protocols. iirc.

[mephisto_kur]

As far as I know, Windows Firewall is available to all of the XP versions, even the Basic starter version sold overseas.

In the other thread, I made sure to post all of the differences.  It is long, but they are all there.  Anomaly, the only reason I would consider Pro over Home in your case (other than "its more shiny") would be the x64 support.  But frankly, if you want x64 support, you may want to just get Vista - there are far more drivers available for Vista 64bit than XP 64bit.

[mephisto_kur]

Oh, also, yes - XP Home does not allow you to join an AD Domain...  That does NOT mean that you cannot connect to a network share, even if that share is on a Domain.  As long as your username and password match, it doesn't care.  Right now, my main server is running as a primary domain controller, but not a single one of my other machines are part of its domain.  I have XP Pro, 2000pro, Windows 2003 servers, Windows 2000 servers, and even Linux machines connecting to the main share on that server.