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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Question about Windows XP vs 2000 Pro
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Nick Engstrom
Film Handler
Posts: 23
From: USA
Registered: Dec 2003
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posted 05-11-2004 10:26 AM
Pro features that aren't in Home Edition---
The following features are not present in Windows XP Home Edition.
Power user
Remote Desktop - All versions of Windows XP--including Home Edition--support Remote Assistance, which is an assisted support technology that allows a help desk or system administrator to remotely connect to a client desktop for troubleshooting purposes. But Only Pro supports the new Remote Desktop feature, which is a single-session version of Terminal Services with two obvious uses: Mobile professionals who need to remotely access their corporate desktop, and remote administration of clients on a network. You can access a Windows XP Remote Desktop from any OS that supports a Terminal Services client (such as Windows 98 and, interestingly XP Home). XP Home can act as the client in a Remote Desktop session; only Pro can be the server.
Multi-processor support - Windows XP Pro supports up to two microprocessors, while Home Edition supports only one.
Automated System Recovery (ASR) - In a somewhat controversial move, Microsoft has removed the Backup utility from the default Windows XP Home Edition, though it is available as an optional installation if you can find it on the CD-ROM (hint: it's in the /valueadd folder). The reason for this the integration of Microsoft's new Automated System Recovery (ASR) tool into Backup. In Pro, ASR will help recover a system from a catastrophic error, such as one that renders the system unbootable. ASR-enabled backups are triggerable from XP Setup, allowing you to return your system to its previous state, even if the hard drive dies and has to be replaced. Unlike consumer-oriented features such as System Restore, ASR is not automatic: It must manually be enabled from within the Backup utility in Windows XP Pro. In any event, while there is a Backup utility available for Home Edition, you cannot use ASR, even though mentions of this feature still exist in the UI. Confusing? Yes. But it's better than no Backup at all, which was the original plan.
Dynamic Disk Support - Windows XP Professional (like its Windows 2000 equivalent) supports dynamic disks, but Home Edition does not (instead, HE supports only the standard Simple Disk type). Dynamic disks are not usable with any OS other than Windows 2000 or Windows XP Pro, and they cannot be used on portable computers. Likewise, Home Edition does not include the Logical Disk Manager.
Fax - Home Edition has no integrated fax functionality out of the box, though it is an option you can install from the XP Home CD.
Internet Information Services/Personal Web Server - Home Edition does not include the IIS Web server 5.1 software found in Pro.
Security
Encrypting File System - Windows XP Professional supports the Encrypting File System (EFS), which allows you encrypt individual files or folders for local security (EFS is not enabled over a network). EFS-protected files and folders allows users to protect sensitive documents from other users.
File-level access control - Any user with Administrator privileges can limit access to certain network resources, such as servers, directories, and files, using access control lists. Only Windows XP Professional supports file-level access control, mostly because this feature is typically implemented through Group Policy Objects, which are also not available in Home Edition.
"C2" certification - Microsoft will attempt to have Windows XP Professional certified with the "C2" security designation, a largely irrelevant status, but one which will not be afforded to Home Edition.
Management
Domain membership - Home Edition cannot be used to logon to an Active Directory domain. For obvious reasons, the Domain Wizard is also missing in Home Edition.
Group Policy - Since Home Edition cannot be used to logon to an Active Directory domain, Group Policy--whereby applications, network resources, and operating systems are administered for domain users--is not supported either.
IntelliMirror - Microsoft lumps a wide range of semi-related change and configuration management technologies under the IntelliMirror umbrella, and none of these features are supported in the consumer oriented Home Edition. IntelliMirror capabilities include user data management; centrally-managed software installation, repair, updating, and removal; user settings management; and Remote Installation Services (RIS), which allows administrators to remotely install the OS on client systems.
Roaming profiles - This feature allows users to logon to any computer in an Active Directory network and automatically receive their customized settings. It is not available in Home Edition, which cannot logon to an Active Directory domain.
Corporate deployment
Multi-language support - Only Windows XP Professional will ship in a Multi-Language version or support multiple languages in a single install.
Sysprep support - Windows XP Pro will support the System Preparation (Sysprep) utility, while Home Edition will not.
RIS support - See the IntelliMirror heading in the previous section; Home Edition does not support RIS deployments.
64-bit Edition
Microsoft is shipping a 64-bit version of Windows XP for Intel Itanium systems that mirrors the Professional Edition feature-set.
Networking features
The following networking features are not included in Home Edition:
The user interface for IPSecurity (IPSec)
SNMP
Simple TCP/IP services
SAP Agent
Client Service for NetWare
Network Monitor
Multiple Roaming feature
User interface features
Windows XP Home Edition has some different default settings that affect the user interface. For example, Guest logon is on by default in Home, but off in Pro. The Address bar in Explorer windows is on in Pro by default, but off in Home. During the beta period, Microsoft had intended to use a business-oriented shell theme ("Professional") by default in Pro and the "Luna" consumer theme in Home Edition. But feedback from corporate users suggested that everyone liked the consumer-oriented Luna theme better, and development of the Professional theme was cancelled. Other user interface features that are present in Pro but not Home include:
Client-side caching
Administrative Tools option on the Start menu (a subset of the Admin tools are still present in Home, however).
Does that mean a whole lot to a standard home user with no networking capabilities, your answer is pretty much no, so save yourself a hundred bucks and get the home version.
To say XP is crap is rediculous, I will be the first to admit, its not your greatest security OS in the world and has some other odd ball defects, but if anything is worth the price of admission, its the automatic drivers built into the OS upon installation--I don't know how many hours I have spent installing drivers on 2k or 98 back in the day....egads..
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 05-11-2004 07:16 PM
Linux may be great for some (such as those doing web hosting). But it is not (and may never be) an option for me to use. As far as I'm concerned, there's only Mac and Windows. That's it. Plain and simple.
Until Adobe, Macromedia and most other graphics software companies ship fully functional, cross platform compatible versions of their apps for Linux, I will never be a Linux user.
I don't care about "emulation" under Linux either. That will not work with a number of parallel port and USB hardware dongle security keys I have to use with my software. And while GIMP is a nice freebie open source image editor, I will not give up Photoshop for it.
Ultimately, applications drive a platform, not the bells and whistles in the operating system. The only platform I'm considering a shift toward to abandon Microsoft Windows is the Mac OS X platform. The reason? Killer apps like Final Cut Pro. I don't care at all about how "great" the Mac OS is. I could not give a popcorn fart about how many times faster a G5 runs in some isolated floating point "test" than a Pentium 4. The applications are what matters. Little else. The applications are what allows you to get your work done. If I were starting up an audio-video production business, I would have at least two or three Mac-based workstations running FCP, DVD Studio Pro, Pro-Tools, Maya and a few other apps as well. There may be a couple PCs in use as well (for things like webby graphic stuff). But I'm going to get my work done faster (and more profitably) using the apps Apple has that Adobe hasn't managed to equal (yet). For a tiny example, FCP has supported 24p video capture. Adobe is just now offering that with the Premiere Pro 1.5 upgrade.
While I continue to be a one-man-show as far as freelance graphics work goes, I'll probably just stick with my PC (and PC-based application licenses) for now.
Linux is showing some signs of promise, but ultimately it just doesn't have the business model to support killer applications that cost a shitload of money to develop. Most Linux users want everything "open source" or, in other words, FREE. Well, I sure as f**k don't like working for free and I don't know anyone else who likes doing their profession for no pay at all either. That's the biggest problem with Linux. Developers get little or no return on investment.
As for WinXP "Home". It's just crap.
As for WinXP Pro with dual CPU support, you have to do a clean install on a dual CPU system for that version to work at all. You cannot just have a dual-CPU capable PC, slap in another P4 CPU chip and go to town. You have to format C: and start over clean. My understanding is you have to buy a WindowsXP Server or Win2003 Server for support of four or more CPUs. That kind of sucks. Silicon Graphics sells workstations with four-way CPUs. Why can't they allow that in a Windows PC non-server box?
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 05-12-2004 01:21 AM
quote: Bobby Henderson
Until Adobe, Macromedia and most other graphics software companies ship fully functional, cross platform compatible versions of their apps for Linux, I will never be a Linux user.
Given the huge cost savings in running Linux (even a distribution package) over Windows, I'm surprised that they haven't yet done so. Presumably these companies have done their market research, assessed their costs and concluded that the user base would not justify the initial development investment. Microsoft must therefore be mightily relieved that the figures come out in their favour.
There is another, more sinister possibility, though: that some sort of backroom deal between Microsoft and third party applications developers is preventing this from happening. I'm sure Big Bill doesn't care one bit about Mac versions, given the very small (3-5% ish) market share of these platforms, the fact that they run on totally incompatible hardware and the fact that Mac OS doesn't work out significantly cheaper than Windows when bought bundled. But Linux is a fraction of the price of Windows, more secure, probably more reliable and runs on the exact same hardware. Unless the development investment needed is massive, it doesn't make sense to me why the major applications developers aren't starting to support it.
If there are any underhand deals going on and details do emerge, there's likely to be the mother and father of all antitrust cases...
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 05-12-2004 05:25 PM
quote: Kyle McEachern
I'd hope that you would actually make the investment for professional software, since you're so hung up on it...things like Media 100, Avid, ProTools, etc...the stuff that the major professionals use.
Actually, lots of video professionals do use Final Cut Pro. As for Pro-Tools, I think I mentioned that one already. That's another Mac-only thing that makes Windows a lesser platform for pro-audio production. But you have to start from somewhere, and Final Cut Pro / DVD Studio Pro represents by far the most economical way to at least get a flegdling operation started.
Sure, I'd love it if a bank were to loan me upwards of a million dollars so I could go out and buy a lot of the hardware you find in well established video production outfits or broadcast facilities. Yeah, I'd rather be able to spend $27,000 on a Panasonic AJ-SDX900 DVC-PRO50 camera rather than having to shoot stuff on MiniDV using a $3000-$5000 camera. Also, everyone of us would love to have a $100,000 "turn-key" Avid or Pinnacle system. But you would have a really hard time aquiring that gear in the beginnings of a business.
That's the thing that makes FCP and DVD Studio Pro "killer apps". You can do good work with those tools and not have to spend a shitload of money on some grandiose posting suite to do it.
quote:
Given the huge cost savings in running Linux (even a distribution package) over Windows, I'm surprised that they haven't yet (shipped software titles for Linux).
The Windows (or Mac) licensing fee are not the big cost in software development. It is the actual development that costs lots of money. You have to be able to recover those costs somehow. Sure, graphics software is pretty ungodly expensive, especially when you get into areas like 3D animation apps and other industry specific solutions. But those businesses have to charge that much to amortize the cost of development. They cannot recover any of those expenses at all under Linux where most Linux fans think all software should be free and open source. Sorry, but that's just bullshit. The entire computing industry would cave in on itself if there is no revenue stream to keep it alive. I said it before: I'm not working my job for free. And I damned sure don't expect anyone else to do their job for free either. We don't live in any "utopian" society at all. We all have lots of cost of living bills to pay. Until the proponents of Linux can come up with a sound and secure business model where developers can make a living there will not be any mass-migration from Windows (or Mac) by software developers.
The only items I see being made available for Linux now or in the future are applications already being distributed for nothing on Windows and Mac platforms. Adobe has (or is developing) a Linux based version of Acrobat Reader. There's a Linux-based Flash player. I'm not sure if Apple has a Linux-based Quicktime player. I don't see any of those developers porting their marquee graphics apps over to Linux.
Another thing complicating the Linux issue is hardware / workflow compatibility. It's already enough of a bitch dealing with platform jumps between Mac and PC (different font formats, different color hardware profiles, etc.) How is Linux going to figure into that? It took quite a few years for Windows to get any kind of credible color control hardware and software running on that platform. Throughout much of the 1990's, if you wanted a tool to calibrate your monitor's colors with a printer's output and a set of swatches, you had to spend a bunch of money on a number of Mac-only solutions. Thankfully now both Mac and PC are covered and prices on spectrophotometers have dropped far down in price.
Overall, it has taken roughly a decade for Windows to develop into a credible platform for graphics use. You have the issues of application availability, workflow/hardware compatibility to deal with. I just don't see Linux doing any of that any time soon.
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