Windows 7 Pro, worth the extra money?

[fluffykitten]

Should I spend the extra money on pro. seems like most companies are not even going to switch over to windows 7 so I should just be happy with home for myself... reason I would like to have pro is to have the learning curve.

 

[Ultiweap]

The home edition is well for home purpose but somtimes for some home users we need a little more.

All that will depend on what you need with Windows 7.

Maybe this may help you: Windows 7 Version

 

[SNGX1275]

When 7 with Student pricing was announced I found out that you could get Home Premium or Professional. I'd been running Vista Home Premium and wasn't feeling restricted by what it could do so it didn't really matter to me, but I figured since they were the same price (student price) I'd get the one that retails for more.
That and the Professional version has a pretty basic, yet adequate backup program that will even backup to a network drive, I've only backed up to a different physical internal drive - and haven't had to restore from it, but it seems that if it restores like I'd expect it to that that feature alone would be worth it.

 

[DelJo63]

That and the Professional version has a pretty basic, yet adequate backup program that will even backup to a network drive, I've only backed up to a different physical internal drive - and haven't had to restore from it, but it seems that if it restores like I'd expect it to that that feature alone would be worth it.

IMO, that restriction (no network backup) is really lame. Hopefully, that does not include a locally attached external HD.

 

[compdata]

The ability to join company domains and the xp compatibility mode are the main things you would probably be interested in. If you need either one it might be worth it. But of course if you have a copy of xp around you can always use a free VM and install it in there if you really need backwards compatibility.

I am using Home Premium (as i got it through an upgrade program from HP). I also have a copy of Ultimate that i got from one of the launch parties, but have seen no reason to install it yet (saving it for a new computer build).

 

[Archean]

As comp pointed out; corporate sector IT departments are more interested in Professional version because it not only allow them to group computers into a domain; it allow them to easily manage them, enforce whatever policies they want to, put restrictions/limits accordingly on what users can do etc. and share resources across the network(s). Hence, for a normal home user it may not make much sense at all.

Having said that, you can configure HP version to be able to utilize network resources on a domain but there may be some hassles which you need to workaround.

 

[Ultiweap]

The ability to join company domains and the xp compatibility mode are the main things you would probably be interested in. If you need either one it might be worth it. But of course if you have a copy of xp around you can always use a free VM and install it in there if you really need backwards compatibility.

I am using Home Premium (as i got it through an upgrade program from HP). I also have a copy of Ultimate that i got from one of the launch parties, but have seen no reason to install it yet (saving it for a new computer build).

Or simply use the Windows XP mode in Windows 7 which is of great help.

 

[compdata]

Or simply use the Windows XP mode in Windows 7 which is of great help.

You missed my point - XP mode is not available in Windows 7 Home premium and he is trying to decide if Pro version is worth it. It isn't as convenient as the XP compatibility mode, but using XP in a VM might be an alternative to needing to upgrade to Pro (if he has a valid XP license around).

 

[SNGX1275]

IMO, that restriction (no network backup) is really lame. Hopefully, that does not include a locally attached external HD.

I was under the impression that you could back up to a network drive. I'll have to check again when I get home.