The debate of differences between the Microsoft manufactured Windows 10 Home Edition and Windows 10 Pro edition have been dragged for quite a long time now. Users have often found themselves in bewildered perplexion while making a purchase for Windows 10 because of the liability to choose between the two.
Therefore, now is the time to sort out all the doubts revolving around these two operating systems.
With no noticeable difference in performance and efficiency of functioning as well as regular free updates on a yearly basis in both the Windows 10 variants along with receiving free 18 months long support, there are some grounds on which the Windows 10 Home edition can be distinguished from its variant, the Windows 10 Pro edition, in the following ways:-
Table of Contents
Key Differences between Windows 10 Home and Pro
1. Cost
Windows 10 Home Edition is quite cheaper than the Windows 10 Pro Edition, fortunately. While the Home version will cost you around $119 or around $139 with other plugins or additions, the same license fee for the Pro variant is around $199, which is a huge difference in price. These prices are for one PC license.
However, the Windows 10 Pro version promotes its price in an inclusive manner. How? That extra money invested in the Pro edition could have been used to buy another memory card or video graphics card if you had chosen the Windows Home version and were looking to optimise it for better usage. Therefore, the price can be called satisfactory in both cases.
2. Features
As stated earlier, Windows 10 Pro edition makes itself useful by adding the icing and cherry on top in each of the features and aspects that Microsoft has ingrained in the two variants of Windows 10.
- Assigned Access and Group Policy are useful features given to the Pro variant users that are predominantly utilised in the workspace. Assigned Access allows the user to keep only authorised access to the data of the PC while Group Policy management gives restricted access to operating systems.
- Windows 10 Pro has the capability of providing the user with more cpu support and RAM than Windows Home version. The RAM is around a whopping number of 2TB RAM while the CPU is about 2. However, Windows 10 Home edition works only on one CPU and sadly comprises only 128 GB.
- Even though there might not be significant differences in speed of one another, Windows 10 Pro will give you an edge of utilising resources and other power options efficiently.
- The users of Windows 10 home version will also miss out on two collective features of Windows 10X emulator as well as Hyper-V because emulator only works in the presence of Hyper-V. The hyper-v is responsible for virtualization of virtual machines on the CPU. Even though Hyper-V is already present in the Windows 10 Pro version, it has to be downloaded again separately for the compatibility to work.
3. Additional Benefits
The other bad news for the users of Windows 10 Home edition is that along with the exotic features provided by the Windows 10 Pro version, they will have to sacrifice the following additional advantages as well:-
- Bitlocker: The close-knit security feature awarded to the Windows Pro users protects their system and data from lurking hackers. The recent updates also allows encryptions to be set on individual files as per desire. Bitlocker also does an admirable job in increasing the speed as well as optimising the performance of the laptop.
- Trusted Boot: This feature allows a secured booting process for the PC so that during the susceptibility period of booting the system, no harm can be done to it. Your system will be malware free as well as all the components will be thoroughly checked before the starting of the system. Like Bitlocker, the main purpose of introducing this feature is to ensure peaceful business set ups.
- Remote Desktop: Unless you have a third-party software like Teamviewer installed on your PC, the Home variant users cannot access another desktop remotely. This is, however, not the case for the Windows Pro Edition users who have such features in-grained in the system. This feature is again another useful aspect in the workplace.
- Windows Sandbox: If you have to run some unknown or suspicious files, there are high chances of your system being infected with a laced malware. Therefore, the sandbox comes as a saviour that will protect your PC if you run the unknown files within it. This feature is present in Windows Pro, making the users of Windows 10 home edition quite sad again.
4. Which is more suitable to use?
The final verdict generated is: Windows 10 Pro edition fares far better than the Windows 10 Home edition if the differentiation is done on the basis of the above pointers with regards to features, and added advantages provided.
The Windows 10 Pro edition certainly compensated for its costlier price via the abundance of benefits it offers. However, users can choose between the two based on their own needs and requirements:-
- Windows 10 Home edition should be opted by anyone who does not have much usage of laptop with regards to only basic functions that would be performed on diurnal basis.
- However, the Windows 10 Pro edition is an ideal option for all those who have quite complicated work going on their system and involves more or less a mini office in their laptop. With the added layers of security and ability to use the data resources effectively, supported by more than one CPU and more RAM, Windows Pro should be an ideal option for people who work quite vigorously over laptops.
Still, there is no need to worry if you have Windows 10 Home. It is not impossible to upgrade to the pro version. All you have to do is pay the extra amount associated with the newer license for getting a Pro PC.
So, what do you think about these two versions of Windows 10? Also, which one are you using and finding useful? Let us know in the comments!
See More: How to Fix the Black Screen Problem on Windows 10 Computers
