I REALLY don't see that much difference between home and pro unless you're running an actual fileserver and have a need for added user security and roaming profiles. I have used both on the same box and both were equally easy to network onto my exisiting network. The only advantage I saw in upgrading was for remote desktop, which I have scrapped for VNC anyway.
The differences are :
Quote:
-Remote Desktop – remotely access your Windows XP Professional PC, from another Windows PC, so you can work with all of your data and applications while away from your office.
This can be done easier with VNC without the upgrade.
-Offline Files and Folders - access to files & folders on a network share when disconnected from the server.
Not needed unless you are using a fileserver (at least IMHO).
-Scalable processor support – up to two-way multi-processor support.
-Encrypting File System - protects sensitive data in files that are stored on disk using the NTFS file system.
Depending on what you are doing, this *may* be an issue.
To me this seems more geared toward a client/server network
-Access Control – restrict access to selected files, applications, and other resources.
Same as above
-Centralized administration - join Windows XP Professional systems to a Windows Server domain to take advantage of the full range of powerful management and security tools.
Unless you have access to MSDN CD's or a windows server, a non issue
-Group Policy - simplifies the administration of groups of users or computers.
-Software Installation and Maintenance – automatically install, configure, repair, or remove software applications.
-Roaming User Profiles - access to all your documents and settings no matter where you log on.
-Remote Installation Service (RIS) – support for remote operating system installations where desktops can be installed across the network.
-Multi-lingual User Interface (MUI) add-on - change the user interface language to get localized dialog boxes, menus, help files, dictionaries, and proofing tools etc.
|
I may be missing something huge, but had I not had access to acedemic CD's, I would have never upgraded.