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Sizing up Home vs. Pro for teleworkers

If it feels like a 100% home setup, then go with Windows XP Home; otherwise stick to Windows XP Pro.

By Steve Janss
Net.Worker, 12/17/01

Whether you're a network executive tasked with upgrading your 200-plus teleworking fleet or a home-based business owner pondering a new operating system, you need answers to these questions: Should you upgrade to Windows XP? If so, why? Which version, XP Home or XP Pro best meets your needs? What's the most cost-effective upgrade path?

Take the right path to XP

If you're using Windows NT 3.51, 4.0 or 2000, you're enjoying an operating system that's robust, fairly secure and well suited for the business environment. Unfortunately, while it works with most business software, NT's range is limited. If your operating system is in the Windows 95/98/Millennium Edition line, it runs an array of software, but it may not be as stable.

XP offers a robust and stable operating system that runs most of today's software. While you may be content with what you have, XP's long list of new features might turn your head. Here are some new features of the Home and Pro versions:

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Remote Assistance lets you invite a trusted XP user (such as a corporate IT staff member) to chat with you, observe your screen, and even (with your permission), remotely control your computer - perfect for remote "how-to" demonstrations.

XP's Internet Connection Firewall provides rudimentary protection against Internet threats, but consider adding an International Computer Security Association-certified desktop firewall such as Tiny Software's Personal Firewall 2.0 ($39 for corporate use, free for home use). Tiny's firewall sports more comprehensive features and integrates with Tiny's centrally managed firewall.

Graphic artists and wordsmiths will love XP's Dualview feature, which lets you use XP's video drivers with two monitors (and a laptop or dual-output video card) for unprecedented visual real estate.

CD burning goes native in XP, offering full drag-and-drop support for all leading CD-R/RW drives, and frees your teleworkers from having to master yet another program. Nothing is easier for backing up your data or sharing large files.

Going Pro

Systems administrators supporting their teleworkers' remote systems will love the additional features found in XP Pro. Although it costs $100 more than XP Home, the added features make it worth the cost:

Remote Desktop lets an XP Pro teleworker access his machine, and all of its programs and files, from any 32-bit Windows program running a Terminal Services client, even over the Internet. No more hoofing it back to the office to retrieve forgotten files and run software that only works on your corporate LAN.

The Remote Installation Service is great for rolling out XP Pro to your entire fleet, except for teleworkers. Unless their Internet connection is on par with 10Base-T, you're better off making a house call.

Laptop users will relish XP Pro's Encrypting File System, which protects sensitive corporate data stored on your NT file system volumes.

Does your teleworking staff require support for Network Monitor, SNMP and IP Security? Then XP Pro's the way to go.

Finally, if your teleworkers are members of a Win 2000/NT domain, they'll need XP Pro. (XP Home users can still access domain resources - they just can't be domain members).

To help decide which version of XP is right for you, or whether you should upgrade at all, we've organized users into three tiers. For simplicity's sake, assume Tier II and III teleworkers are connecting to their corporate LANs via VPN.

Tier I: Home-office workers who don't access a corporate network. They maintain their own systems. Whether these folks upgrade to XP, and which version they may choose, depend a great deal on what they do. If all they do is write, there's little incentive for them to upgrade to XP. On the other hand, if they want some of XP's new features, then XP will suit them well.

Tier II: Teleworkers who access the corporate network but who are self-maintaining. Those within this group will be happy with Win 2000 or XP Pro. If you're using an operating system earlier than Win 2000 Pro, upgrade to XP Pro. If you're using 2000 Pro, you might wish to hold steady for a while because the features in XP Pro aren't sufficient to warrant an upgrade.

Tier III: Teleworkers who access the corporate network and rely on IT to maintain their systems. Tier III folks will definitely benefit from XP Pro's Remote Desktop and XP's Remote Assistance.

Bottom line, if it looks, acts and feels like a 100% home setup, then you might be OK with XP Home. But if there's even a whiff of corporate activity, you'll probably need one or more features found only in XP Pro.

Whether you choose Home and Pro, you can save $100 by upgrading from an eligible version (see graphic). But if you're stuck buying the full version, your computer is probably old enough to consider trading in for a new one with XP preinstalled.

Take the right path to XP
A handful of legacy Windows versions plus two versions of Windows XP make upgrading an exercise in confusion. Here are some tips to help you find your way:

If you have . . .	. . . your options are:
	XP Home	XP Pro
Windows 3.1	Full ($200)	Full ($300)
Windows 95	Full ($200)	Full ($300)
Windows NT 3.51	Full ($200)	Full ($300)
Any Evaluation version	Full ($200)	Full ($300)
Any Server version	Full ($200)	Full ($300)
Any non-Windows operating system	Full ($200)	Full ($300)
Windows 98 or 98 SE	Upgrade ($100)	Upgrade ($200)
Windows Millenium Edition	Upgrade ($100)	Upgrade ($200)
Windows NT 4.0	No upgrade available	Upgrade ($200)
Windows 2000 Professional	No upgrade available	Upgrade ($200)
Windows XP Home Edition	No upgrade available	Upgrade ($200)

NOTE: • Prices are approxi- mate street prices. • Users of Windows XP Pro users cannot “downgrade” to Windows XP Home.