Should I buy Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional?

I have a new Dell laptop that I really do want to switch to Windows 7. I am not switching because I don't like Vista because I really do. I am switching because it is a 64 bit vista on the laptop and the very important program I have to run using this laptop will not run on 64bit OS.
My question to you would be W7 home premium or professional. All my OSs have been pro because I like the remote features that pro offers as compared to the others. I do a lot of remote desktop and like the feature.
So, what do you all recommend? Let's hear it guys. Thanks.

If you buy Windows 7 Pro, you;ll be able to run "XP Mode". This is a free copy of XP Pro 32 bit running inside M$ "Virtual PC". Both downloads are free with a valid copy of Win 7.

Having XP around for stubborn programs that won't run on Win 7 is worth 40 bucks IMO.

I've taken my own advice on this one BTW.

I really do know the difference but want to ask people that have had both if that is possible.

I do have another question about where to get it. Should I get it from Dell where I bought it and get an upgrade or a full version from them.
Or should I buy it from newegg or whoever and get and upgrade or an oem?

Upgrade editions have some notoriety for being the worst way to "upgrade". (Sorry about the bad pun).

That said, I would spring for an OEM copy from Newegg. ($140.00) There are a couple of caveats. The OS copy would live and die only in the first PC you install it in.

I'm not familiar with Dell's policies about Windows discs versus "restore discs", (which are disc "images" not discreet copies of Windows), so I can't speak directly to your situation. My Emachine T-5026 will not boot from a normal Windows disc, its proprietary restore discs must be used or it generates an error about needing an administrative password entered into the BIOS!

So, you should do some research into what your Dell needs to make it happy, before you spend your money

I dual boot my computer
> XP Pro
> Windows 7 Pro

And i'll testify to how handy virtual XP mode can be as i learned my NTI CD&DVD Maker software I always relied on with XP wouldn't work in Windows 7. So... I just opened the virtual XP mode's virtual window in Win 7, installed NTI into virtual XP and can now burn CD/DVDs again while running Win 7 (and i have no reason to hurry and run out to buy new burner software either)

Only caveat: I believe you want to check your CPU supports virtual XP mode. I vaguely recall Windows has a utility that reports if your computer will handle it

It is my understanding that the updated version of "Virtual PC" is not hardware dependent....!
Please check out this topic... http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic144650.html

Right, the XP mode is not hardware dependent any more. They have an update for that .
I do own acronis.

I can't get a decent answer out of Dell for this. I don't know where to find out.

Oh yea.... I forgot that fact...

Well, now you know just how vaguely i recalled it!