How are Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Home different?

The installation cost alone is already quite expensive, especially when you are aiming for the latest games with the highest possible configuration. Therefore, when making a budget, many people often forget about the cost of the operating system.

Unless you’re on Linux, you’ll need Windows 10 Home or Pro. The $40-$80 difference between the two versions of Windows can get you a better graphics card or more RAM, but that’s the case if you don’t need the extra features from Windows 10 Pro.

Microsoft has always had a Pro version for Windows generations since Win XP, bringing many powerful features that Home does not have. And while many of the extra features of Windows 10 Pro are clearly for businesses, like group management policies and domain constraints, the Pro version has many other features that many people just can’t live without. Here are the most useful features you can get from Windows 10 Pro, along with free alternatives (if available).

Remote Desktop – Control your computer remotely

With Windows 10 Home, you can still use Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), but you can’t control your computer remotely with another device on your local network. Fortunately, we still have free options like TigerVNC, TeamViewer and UltraViewer. They have similar functions and add many more features that RDP does not have. You can also try RDP Wrapper.

Bitlocker

If you’re concerned about security and want to protect your data from hacking, or you’ve just switched from MacOS and want something like Apple’s Filevault, you’ll probably want to shell out the extra money for Pro. Bitlocker supports full disk encryption to keep your data safe from hackers. The latest version of Bitlocker also allows encrypting individual files, which is more convenient than the whole thing as before. Again, some other software can do the same encryption, only they are not built into the operating system.

Trusted Boot

Trusted Boot protects the computer from rootkits and works in tandem with Secure Boot. Trusted Boot keeps your system malware-free and under control by checking everything during the boot process before it runs. While it gives users more peace of mind, it’s another feature aimed at businesses with security as a top priority.

Windows Sandbox

How many times have you downloaded an exe file, but were afraid to run it? Or have you ever needed to completely reinstall Windows, but don’t want to reset the virtual machine?

Windows Sandbox is a temporary, isolated environment for you to run untrusted software without fearing it will affect your computer in the long run. Any software installed in Windows Sandbox will just stay here and not affect Windows. Once Windows Sandbox closes, all software and its files are permanently deleted.

Hyper-DRAW

Hyper-V is the only hypervisor for Windows used to run virtual machines (Virtual Machines) on CPUs that support virtualization. If you plan to run a lot of virtual machines, the Pro version is well worth the price, but if you just need virtualization, there are many free products like Virtualbox that have more features and work on many systems. operating. Although Hyper-V comes with Windows 10 Pro license, you need to download and install Hyper-V yourself, it is not available.

Limited memory and enterprise features

In addition to the above features, there are a few more differences between these two versions of Windows. Windows 10 Home supports up to 128GB of RAM, while Pro supports up to 2TB. However, unless you’re running dozens of virtual machines, you won’t be using up the Home edition’s RAM limit for the foreseeable future.

Other features like group policy management, Assigned Access, and the ability to join a domain are probably only used within the company. Assigned Access allows admins to lock Windows and allow access to only one application for a specific user. Group Policy allows you to limit access to certain Windows features and tweak operating system settings. Obviously this is a great feature for an admin, but it’s not very useful when used at home.

Windows Update for Business allows admins to control when the system is updated, and delaying updates can make legacy software incompatible or impact the business as a whole. But unless absolutely necessary, the best way is still to update Windows to the latest version.

For most users, Windows 10 Home Edition is enough. If you only use your PC to play games, there’s no benefit to going Pro. The extra features of the Pro version are mainly focused on business and security features. With freeware options and the same (or more) features, the Home edition is pretty much enough for all your needs.

By PC Gamer