Windows 10 Home Vs Pro: which one will you choose?
As users continue to upgrade to Windows 10 on their devices, they find themselves with the appropriate version of Windows 10, in accordance to their upgrade path.
Those who originally had the Home edition of Windows 8.1 or Windows 7. will find themselves with Windows 10 Home. Those who upgraded from Windows 8.1 Pro or Windows 7 Ultimate, will find their systems running Windows 10 Pro.
Chances are that, to most users, the difference will be very subtle, as the average home user doesn’t care much for advanced features, as long as they are able to carry on with their tasks. Having said that, some users with an eye on certain performance and features may wonder what the real difference is between Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro.
Advanced Encryption
The encryption mechanism in Windows 10 Home Edition allows to encrypt the entire content of the hard drive, which is a great feature, but a little overkill when needing a way to fine tune encryption for certain files and folders, as required by business or power users.
Windows 10 Pro allows to encrypt single files and folders alongside unencrypted items. Even better, the same level of flexibility of encryption can be applied to files saved on USB drives and other external media.
Remote Desktops
Pro users of Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 can also expect other features to carry over, like Remote Desktop, which allows to control another Windows PC for a variety of tasks, such as remote management and tech support.
Group Policy Management
The ability to restrict and allow access to certain applications and locations on a system or network is another important feature that is part of Windows 10 Pro.
Windows 10 Business Store
Windows 10 Pro users have access to the Windows 10 Business Store, where users can download apps to perform enterprise-level tasks and be productive in a small business environment.
The bottom line
There are users who do not have a specific need for Windows 10 for business, but would like access to enterprise-like apps and features for a variety of reasons, for instance when requiring a more flexible way to encrypt files and folders, or to disallow access to certain applications and hard drive locations, when sharing the same computer with family members of other people. A Pro version of Windows 10, provides those enhancements, without the premium required from enterprise level volume licensing customers.