Windows 10 Home vs Pro: is it worth the Upgrade?
Windows 10 is a free upgrade to Windows 7 and 8 users until July 29, 2016; if you own Windows 7 or 8 Pro (or higher), then you can receive Windows 10 Pro for free. Conversely, if you own Windows 7 or 8 Home (or anything less than Pro) then you will by default receive Windows 10 Home as your free upgrade.
With that said, Windows 10 Home users can also upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for a $99 fee. So, is the upgrade from Hone to Pro worth it? Here are some of the differences and whether they may be worth paying for.
Fewer Forced Updates In Pro Edition
Every feature in Windows 10 Home is part of Pro, so you won't be giving up anything by getting the paid edition. Many of the additional benefits with Pro are purely designed for business use, however, other features are also just as useful to consumers. (Source: microsoft.com)
A particularly notable difference is that Windows 10 Pro lets you choose how and when to install Windows Updates. With this feature, users are able to delay Windows Updates from downloading for weeks or months if desired, though security fixes are still applied automatically. This features is very handy for those worried about updates causing unexpected bugs such as with hardware drivers. The problem is that many Windows 10 Home users will find it unpalatable to pay an extra fee just for the right to have more control over what's installed on their computer and when.
The Pro edition also includes a couple of additional security features. Enterprise Data Protection is really only of use if you have multiple Windows 10 computers on a local network and want extra control over the way they can interact. However, another feature called BitLocker could also be useful: it's an option to encrypt both the hard drive and USB drives. If a third party accesses the devices without permission, the files will not be accessible even if they are added to another computer.
Remote Desktop Another Paid Option
Windows 10 Pro also includes an Enterprise Mode for Internet Explorer 11. This means Internet Explorer can open websites that aren't compatible with either IE 11 or the new Edge Browser, both of which are particularly strict about sites meeting new web standards. (Source: howtogeek.com)
Windows 10 Pro also includes some other very useful utilities if you're a power user. Remote Desktop lets you use a Windows 10 Pro computer to control another Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 10 Pro-edition-or-higher computer over the Internet - with the owners permission, of course.
There's also a feature called Client Hyper-V which lets you run other operating systems on your Windows 10 Pro PC from within the desktop environment. Of course, both this and remote desktop can be done through third-party software applications instead.
What's Your Opinion?
Do any of these features interest you? Are they worth paying an extra $99 if you're a Home user looking to upgrade to Pro? Or should any of the Pro features been included in the Home edition?
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Comments
Windows Update
Obviously the big debate here is that Windows 10 Home users don't have enough control over their Windows Updates for fear that the updates may cause harm to the system. I think Microsoft should revise their policy on this; at minimum they should make it easier to block an update if it's causing problems. As it stands you have to download a separate utility just to block an update (and that's only after the harmful update has already been installed, as far as I understand).
old hat?
We're using it now for let's count 2 months and we are somewhat satisfied, added some apps for system and a proper backup. Content? We never are, there are so many things that van be improved I don't know where to start...
By the wat Faas that's a Dutch name like Faassen or ...
Ceye
Folks
Save money
My brother was using Windows XP. He bought Windows 7 Pro from Amazon for about $58 then upgraded to Windows 10 Pro. He saved some money but it cost him a few hours of his time.
What about the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)?
Having Windows 7 Home Premium, it has always bothered me that Microsoft didn't include the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) in my version of Windows 7 but DID include it in Windows 7 Professional. So my question is, will the same be true for Windows 10 Home versus Windows 10 Pro?
Paying for what used to be free?
I resent Microsoft setting up an inferior and flawed update system for Windows Home Edition users so they can charge EXTRA for what used to be a free part of that OS. We should continue to have a choice in applying updates and be able to prevent soon to be discovered faulty updates from being applied. It's evil to be constantly subjected to botched updates unless we pay an extortionate fee to keep our systems running as they should be. I've seen an inordinate number of issues pop up only in the past month because of the lack of accountability on Microsoft's part since they have home users by the throat.