Windows 10 is available in several “editions”. More advanced editions include additional features and cost more.
When it comes to personal or small business use, the choice generally boils down to either Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Professional.
Most new machines come with Windows 10 Home, particularly when sold to individuals. Unfortunately, Windows 10 Professional includes a couple of features I consider exceptionally convenient, even for the average home user.
It’s Windows 10 Professional that I generally recommend for everyone.
Group Policy Editor
Windows 10 Pro includes the Group Policy Editor (File, Run, gpedit.msc). Windows 10 Home does not.
This might seem like a fairly benign omission, and to be completely honest, for most folks it’s no big deal.
The problem — from my perspective — is that the Group Policy Editor provides easy access to a number of important system settings and configuration choices.
The work-around for Windows 10 Home edition involves modifying registry
The registry is nothing more than a highly structured database of information managed by Windows. Almost all user and system settings, configuration information, passwords, and more are kept in the registry. Windows applications are also encouraged to keep their settings and configuration in the registry.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>registry settings manually. Playing around in the registry is certainly do-able, but it’s error prone, and certainly more arcane than most people are interested in dealing with. The user interface provided by the Group Policy Editor is a significantly easier, more comfortable way to make common changes to your system.(Click on the term for full definition.)
Remote Desktop
The remote desktop client is present in all editions of Windows 10. That means you can connect from a Windows 10 Home machine to another Windows machine that supports the Remote Desktop protocol
A protocol is a formal process of communication between two entities – usually computer programs running on the same or different computers. It's often called the 'language' used by those entities.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>Protocol (RDP(Click on the term for full definition.)
RDP is an acronym for Remote Desktop Protocol.
RDP is a communications protocol used by Windows to allow the desktop of one machine to be accessed from another.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>RDP) service.RDP is a communications protocol used by Windows to allow the desktop of one machine to be accessed from another.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
Unfortunately, Windows 10 Home doesn’t support RDP, so you cannot connect to a computer running Windows 10 Home edition using Remote Desktop; you’ll need Windows 10 Professional.
This becomes significant for anyone with multiple computers in a home. (It is possible to use Remote Desktop across the internet, but it’s not easy. Ironically, that means that Remote Desktop is best used to connect to local machines … remotely.) I use it constantly to connect to computers running in my basement, for example, without needing to run up and down stairs each time.
Honestly, it’s Remote Desktop that makes Windows 10 Pro worth it for me, and Windows 10 Home significantly less useful.
The work-around for Windows 10 Home edition: third-party tools like Team Viewer or VNC
VNC is an acronym for Virtual Network Computing.
More specifically VNC refers to a specific type of communications protocol that allows the desktop of one computer to be used from another. It's very similar in concept to Remote Desktop Protocol, the protocol used by Windows for this same purpose.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>VNC (Virtual networkMore specifically VNC refers to a specific type of communications protocol that allows the desktop of one computer to be used from another. It's very similar in concept to Remote Desktop Protocol, the protocol used by Windows for this same purpose.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
In computing, a network is simply a collection of computers and digital devices continuously interconnected in such a way that they can exchange data.
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>Network Connection). Some are more powerful, allowing easy connection across the internet; others are more along the lines of Remote Desktop, and most easily set up locally.(Click on the term for full definition.)
BitLocker
If you’re at all interested in encrypting the entire hard drive on your machine using built-in support, you’ll want Windows 10 Pro. BitLocker, Windows’ whole-drive encryption
Encryption is the process of mathematically processing data using an encryption “key“, such as a password or passphrase, in such a way that the result of the combination is unrecognizable as the original. Encrypted data can be restored to its original form by reprocessing it, using the original encryption key (symmetric encryption) or the matching key of a key pair
(Click on the term for full definition.)
'>encryption support, is available only in Windows 10 Professional.(Click on the term for full definition.)
Honestly, if you travel with your laptop, BitLocker is a pretty compelling reason to get Windows 10 Pro.
Windows 10 Home Pro
The work-around for Windows 10 Home edition: third-party tools like VeraCrypt.
Windows Update for Business
Windows 10 Pro allows you to pause updates for up to 35 days.
While most consider this insufficient control over the entire update process, it’s more than Windows 10 Home offers.
The work-around for Windows 10 Home edition: disabling the Windows Update service and then remembering to turn it back on.
Other features
Microsoft has a side-by-side comparison of Windows 10 Home vs Pro Editions.
Most of the differences not discussed above boil down to things that generally apply to corporate or specialized circumstances.
It’s the four features above that drive my selection and my recommendation.
One other difference: price
Naturally, Windows 10 Pro is more expensive than Windows 10 Home.
As of this writing, a quick check online puts Pro at a 60% premium over the Home edition, if purchasing the operating system directly. When buying a new computer, the price difference is often significantly less, plus it’ll come pre-installed.
All the “Pro” features I’ve discussed have alternative solutions that can be used on Home. Whether the hassle of setting them up yourself, or perhaps needing to purchase them, is worth it to you, or whether these are features you might not even care about, I can’t say.
What I can say is that getting Windows 10 Pro is a slam dunk for me, and it often makes my life a little easier when helping others if they have it as well.
Podcast audio
Download (right-click, Save-As) (Duration: 5:00 — 2.4MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS
Microsoft's offers Windows 10 in two versions: Home and Pro(fessional). It's easy to understand on a conceptual level what this means: Pro is for people to use at work, and Home is for personal machines. But what's the real difference? Let's take a look at Windows 10 Home vs Pro.
Windows 10 Pro Has More Features
The bottom line is Windows 10 Pro offers more than its Home counterpart, which is why it's more expensive. There's nothing Windows 10 Home can do that Pro can't. In fact, they're largely the same operating system.
The difference, then, is based on whether the license you activate is for Home or Pro. You've probably done this before, either when installing Windows, or setting up a new PC for the first time; you reach a point in the process where you enter a 25-character Product ID (license key).
Based on that key, Windows will make a set of features available to you within the OS. The features average users need are present in Home. Pro offers more features, but this refers to built-in functions of Windows, and many of them are tools only system administrators would be interested in.
So the question is, what precisely are these additional things in the Pro version features, and do you need them? Download nokia pc suite terbaru.
Windows 10 Pro Has Additional Security Features
In addition to the various user account management features, Windows 10 Pro includes Bitlocker, Microsoft's encryption utility. It can secure either the disk with your OS (i.e. the C: drive) or removable media like thumb drives.
While there are other disk encryption tools available, Bitlocker will integrate with your company's infrastructure, meaning your admin can secure your machine without you having to worry about it.
Windows 10 Home Doesn't Have Windows Fundamentals
Windows Fundamentals includes some features that have been present in Windows for some time now, going all the way back to when it was originally separated into Pro and Home versions.
The below examples of these have been bumped up to become Pro version 'upgrades,' or features Home users can't use until they upgrade to Pro.
Windows 10 Home Product Key 2019
- Domain Join:The Windows Domain is one of the basic building blocks of business networks, and controls access to network resources such as file drives or printers.
- Azure Active Directory Domain Join, with Single Sign-On to Cloud-Hosted Apps:Remembering your credentials to access the many apps of an enterprise can become burdensome for you, and maintaining all those accounts is difficult for administrators. Single sign-on is a way to maintain one username and password, and use it to authenticate everywhere you need to. Microsoft offers its Active Directory service (running from its own Azure cloud) to allow organizations using Windows 10 Pro to take advantage of this.
- Enterprise Mode Internet Explorer (EMIE):Many web-based business applications were originally built against older versions of Internet Explorer. Rather than having to update to newer browser versions and break their apps, many companies instead keep their employees on these older versions. They may not benefit from the latest and greatest web technology, but the programs they need to do their jobs will work. This feature allows users with newer version of Internet Explorer to load websites and web pages using the engines from these past iterations. Users can then take advantages of better security, and still enjoy compatibility with older company apps.
- Remote Desktop:Remote control of your home computer is an example of a feature that almost any user would love to have. However, the built-in Windows Remote Desktop functionality is limited to Windows Pro users.
- Client Hyper-V: Users must have Windows Pro to use Microsoft's virtual machine solution, Hyper-V. While this is a built-in function, you can replicate with other programs. For example, by using Oracle's VirtualBox to run Ubuntu in Windows.
Windows 10 Pro Has Management and Deployment Features
There are some Windows 10 Pro advantages that won't be as important to the personal computing enthusiast. Nonetheless, it's worth knowing some of the business-focused functions you'd be paying for if you upgraded to Pro:
- Group Policy:GroupPolicy allows administrators to limit what users can do using a centralized set of roles. This includes security elements like password complexity, whether they can access network resources, or install applications.
- Enterprise State Roaming with Azure Active Directory:This allows users to synchronize their important settings and application info across devices via Microsoft's Azure cloud. This doesn't include documents and files, but rather how the machine is configured.
- Windows Store for Business: This is similar to the consumer-facing Windows Store, except this one allows business users to make purchases of apps at volume. They can also manage those purchases or subscriptions for all users in the organization.
- Assigned Access:Assigned Access allows administrators to create a 'kiosk' out of a PC, meaning users will only be able to access a single app, typically a web browser.
- Dynamic Provisioning:In the past, getting a new PC ready to use within an organization was a big undertaking. Administrators needed to enable/disable features, set up the user and device on the corporate domain, and install applications. Dynamic Provisioning allows the admin to create a kind of profile on a USB drive. When starting up a new machine, the admin can simply insert the drive, and the PC will auto-configure itself with whatever the admin desires.
- Windows Update for Business:This is also an enterprise-focused counterpart to the usual Windows Update. It allows admins to control the updates, such as when and how the PCs will update.
- Shared PC Configuration:A mode suited to setting up more than one individual on a PC, such as for temp workers.
- Take a Test:Similar to the above-mentioned Shared PC and Assigned Access setups, Take a Test is focused on the educational market and allows users to sign in for the purpose of taking an exam.
Choosing Windows 10 Home vs Pro
You'll need to choose between Home and Pro when you buy your machine, or when you buy your copy of Windows in a store or online. And you should take a moment to give it some thought before you make your purchase, for two reasons:
- Price: If you go with Home, you'll be paying $119 if you buy from Microsoft; Pro is $199. But, if you want to upgrade Home to Pro later, it's $99 — making your total cost $218. Going the upgrade route is more expensive in the long run.
- Upgrading from Home to Pro: On the other hand, upgrading from Home to Pro is very straightforward; when you do so, the Pro license basically supersedes the Home license.
If you buy Windows 10 Pro, but later realize you only need Windows 10 Home, you'll have to buy a license for Home and activate it on the machine with Pro. This will leave you with an unused Pro license.
If you know you'll use the machine for business purposes at some point, or if you're not concerned about cost, go with Windows 10 Pro. However, if you don't believe you need the enterprise features of Pro, your best bet is to get Windows 10 Home.
RECOMMENDED: Click here to fix Windows errors and improve PC performance
Do you want to upgrade from Windows 10 Home edition to Windows 10 Pro edition? Want to buy the Pro license and upgrade to the same from Windows 10 Home edition? Would you like to upgrade from Windows 10 Home edition to Pro without the product key? In this article, we will see how to upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Pro with ease.
Difference between Windows 10 Home and Pro
The Home edition of Windows 10 is designed for home users, and is perfect for most users who do not need the advanced security and business features available in the Pro edition. The Pro edition offers advanced features like BitLocker, Group Policy, Domain Join, Remote Desktop, Hyper-V, and Azure Active Directory. Go through our difference between Windows 10 Home and Pro editions for detailed information.
Can I upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Pro for free?
While you can upgrade a non-activated Windows 10 Home edition install to Pro edition, you need to activate the install to keep on using the Windows 10 Pro after the initial 30-day trial period.
Upgrade from Windows 10 Home edition to Pro edition is not free. In other words, even if you have an activated copy of Windows 10 Home edition, you need to purchase the upgrade license and activate the install before or after upgrading to Pro edition.
Upgrading Windows 10 Home to Pro edition
Here is how to upgrade from Windows 10 Home edition to Pro edition with a few mouse clicks.
Step 1: Open the Settings app by either clicking Settings icon in the left side of the Start menu or using Windows logo + I hotkey.
Step 2: Once Settings app launched, click Update & security.
Step 3: Click Activation to see the current activation status of your Windows 10 Home edition installation.
As you can see in the picture below, we’re upgrading from a non-activated install of Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro edition without entering a product key. So you don’t need to have an activated install of Windows 10 Home in order to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro edition.
Step 4: Click the button labelled Go to Store to open the Store app.
Step 5: Clicking the Go to Store button will open the following page of the Store app. To upgrade from Home edition to Pro edition, click Upgrade to Pro button.
If you want to buy the Pro edition license right away, click the $99.99 or $119.99 button right before the Upgrade to Pro button. The $99.99 button appears when you are trying the upgrade to Pro edition on an activated install of Windows 10 Home edition. The $119.99 button will be shown when you are upgrading a non-activated Windows 10 Home edition to Professional edition (here you will be purchasing the Pro edition, not just the upgrade license).
Note that you can upgrade to the Pro edition without a key or license. If you like the Pro edition after trying out the features it offers, you can purchase the key later by performing above mentioned instructions again.
While purchasing the Professional edition from the Store, you will need to provide your Microsoft account details.
Step 6: Finally, you will see the following page with information about features that you will get by upgrading to the Pro edition.
As said before, the setup will not remove your files and programs while upgrading from Windows 10 Home Edition to Pro edition. That said, it’s a good idea to backup important files before making any major changes to your operating system.
Step 7: Click Start upgrade button and then click Yes, let’s go button when you see the confirmation dialog with “Have you saved all your files?” message to begin upgrading your Windows 10 Home edition to Pro edition.
Your PC might be restarted during the upgrade process but the upgrade is done on most PCs without a restart.
Depending on your PC’s configuration, the upgrade process might take from few minutes to hours. On most PCs, the upgrade process should be done in less than 30 minutes.
Once Windows 10 Home Pro edition upgrade is done, you will see Edition upgrade completed notification. That’s all! You may now start exploring new features of Windows 10 Pro edition.
If you have upgraded a non-activated Windows 10 Home edition to Windows 10 Pro edition, you may now activate your Windows 10 install. If you want to know the activation status, please refer to our check if your Windows 10 install is activated article.
What's the difference between Windows 10 Home and Pro? Building a PC can be an expensive venture, especially if you aim to play the latest games at their highest settings. When setting your budget, it’s easy to forget about the cost of your operating system. Unless you plan on using Linux, you’ll need either Windows 10 Home or Pro. Retail versions cost $119 for a Windows 10 Home license or $199 if you go with the Pro version—OEM keys that are bought with a hardware purchase cost $109 and $149. That’s a $40-$80 difference that could be put towards a better video card or more memory, but only if you don’t need the additional features Windows 10 Pro offers.
Microsoft has offered a Pro version of Windows since the XP days, bringing with it additional features for power users that Home doesn’t offer. And while many of the extra features of Windows 10 Pro are clearly designed for business use, like group policy management and domain binding, there are other features that an enthusiast might not be able to live without. Here's a breakdown of the most useful features that you get with Windows 10 Pro, as well as free alternatives, when applicable.
Remote Desktop
With Windows 10 Home, you're still able to start Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) sessions, but you can't remotely control your PC from another device on your network natively. Fortunately, there are many free options like TigerVNC and TeamViewer that offer the same functionality and even some additional features that RDP doesn’t offer. You could also try RDP Wrapper as a free alternative.
Bitlocker
If you’re concerned about security and want to protect your data from intruders, or you’re coming from MacOS and want something comparable to Apple’s Filevault, you’ll want to spend the extra money on Pro. Bitlocker provides full disk encryption so you can keep your data safe from hackers. The latest iteration of Bitlocker also allows for the encryption of individual files for more flexibility than the all-or-nothing approach of previous versions. Again, other software can accomplish similar encryption, but it's not built into the OS.
Trusted Boot
Trusted Boot protects your PC from rootkits and works in conjunction with Secure Boot to help keep your system malware free and in your control by checking every component of the startup process before loading it. While it may provide peace of mind to any user, it’s another feature aimed at businesses where security is a top priority.
Windows Sandbox
Hyper-V
Hyper-V is a Windows-only hypervisor used for running virtual machines on CPUs that support virtualization. If you plan on running VMs, this feature might be worth the cost of Pro, but if virtualization is all you need, there are free products like Virtualbox that offer more features and work with multiple operating systems. While Hyper-V is included with your Windows 10 Pro license, it needs to be downloaded and installed separately.
Memory Limits and Business Features
Aside from the above features, there are some other differences between the two versions of Windows. Windows 10 Home supports a maximum of 128GB of RAM, while Pro supports a whopping 2TB. However, unless you're running dozens of virtual machines, you’re not going to exceed the memory limits of Home any time soon.
Other features like group policy management, Assigned Access, and the ability to join a domain are unlikely to be very useful outside of the workplace. Assigned Access allows an admin to lock down Windows and allow access to only one app under a specified user account. Group Policy meanwhile allows you to restrict access to any number of Windows features and configure any setting within the operating system. While this is great from an admin perspective and a good way to set a co-worker's wallpaper to something fun remotely, it’s not very useful in a home environment.
Windows Update for Business allows an admin to control when a system is updated and defer updates that may cause incompatibilities with legacy software or impact the business in some other way. But unless this is absolutely necessary, it’s best to keep Windows up to date.
For the majority of users, Windows 10 Home edition will suffice. If you use your PC strictly for gaming, there is no benefit to stepping up to Pro. The additional functionality of the Pro version is heavily focused on business and security, even for power users. With free alternatives available for many of these features, Home edition is very likely to provide everything you need.
Unfortunately, clean install is your only option, you can't downgrade from Pro to Home. Changing the key will not work. You could try the following work around then test your luck:
- Open Registry Editor(WIN + R, type regedit, hit Enter)
- Browse to key HKEY_Local Machine > Software > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion
- Change EditionID to Home (double click EditionID, change value, click OK). In your case it should at the moment show Pro
- Change ProductName to Windows 10 Home. In your case it should at the moment show Windows 10 Professional
- Browse to key HKEY_Local Machine > Software > Wow6432Node > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion, change the same two values as in steps 3 and 4 above
- Close the Registry Editor
- Insert the Windows 10 Homeinstallation media, do an in-place upgrade by launching the setup from desktop (not booting with Windows 10 Home install media)
- When asked, enter your validWindows 10 Home product key and select what to keep(settings, personal files and apps, only personal files or nothing)
- Windows 10 Home in-place upgrade will be done now.