Windows 11 Home Vs Pro: features, configurations, and support comparisons
Here, we are going to discuss on “Windows 11 Home Vs Pro Comparison” on the basis of its features, configurations. You will be guided with easy ways to differentiate in both Windows 11 editions. Let’s starts the discussion.
Windows 11 OS is latest version of Microsoft Windows Operating system and is successor of Widows 10 OS. This new Windows 11 upgrade is already in use on various different Windows PC/laptop users world-wide. But before installing Windows 11 or upgrading older of Windows PC to Windows 11OS version, you should make sure your PC is eligible to install and run Windows 11 or not. It means you should check system configuration for Windows 11 at first before installing and check if your device mets minimum system requirement for Windows 11 or not.
Once you have sure, you can perform Windows 11 upgrade or clean Windows 11 OS installation in your computer. However, one important dilemma that many users are experiencing is which editions to upgrade to – Windows 11 Home or Windows 11 Pro. The major difference between these Windows 11 editions is pricing. If Microsoft maintains he same pricing as Windows 10, Windows 11 Home edition will cost $139.99 while Windows 11 Pro will cost $199.99. Let’s take a look at some features difference between these Windows 11 editions.
Windows 11 Home Vs Pro Comparison: Setting Up
One of the major differences between Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro edition is its Windows Settings. Windows 11 Home edition has restrictions that might be annoying for some, you need to set it up with an internet connection and Microsoft Account, although you can trick Windows 11 Home into letting you set it up without a Microsoft Account. It is also possible to remove your Microsoft Account from Windows 11 Home after PC is set up, while Windows 11 Pro lets you simply setup your PC with local account.
Another possible difference will be noticeable for business users is that Windows 11 Home PC can’t be joined to Active Directory where Active Directory solutions are important for managing business devices like configuring access to certain resources, deploying apps, and so on. These are all professional tools, so they don’t make sense for most Windows 100 Home users.
Windows 11 Home Vs Windows 11 Pro Comparison on the basis of Virtualization and Remote Desktop
Another major difference between Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro is the support for Virtualisation features in Windows. Windows 11 Home doesn’t support Hyper-V or Windows Sandbox feature while it can be used as Remote Desktop Client, it can’t be a host, so you can’t access a Windows 11 Home PC remotely using Microsoft Remote Desktop. For remotely access, you can try TeamViewer or other third-party programs.
On other hand, Windows 11 Pro supports all these features. Hyper-V is virtualization tool built into Windows means you can create virtual machines with it. Virtual machine doesn’t make changes to your host PC so you can do it all risk-free. However, you can try third-party apps like VMWare WorkStation Player or other similar tool that let you do this on Home Editions.
Windows Sandbox is extension to this idea but instead of running other OS, it just creates clean copy of OS you are running. Using Windows Sandbox feature, you can quickly install and try a potentially risky app and see if it is dangerous before installing it on your machine. This feature resets every time you open it.
Windows 11 Home Vs Pro Comparison on the basis of Security
Windows 11 Pro edition offers some extra security features as comparison to Windows 11 Home edition. Windows 11 Pro Edition supports for BitLocker Encryption offers to encrypt data stored on your hard drive so no one else can access it. Even if your computer is stolen, your files are protected from users other than yourself. This edition also comes with Windows Information Protection (WIP). This is data loss prevention tool, helps prevent data from leaking from within the company. Using WIP policies, company can prevent users from forwarding content outside of the company. So it your PC is stolen or lost, business data can be deleted remotely without affecting personal data on it.
Windows 11 Home Vs Pro: CPU and RAM Support
When we talk about CPU and RAM, Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro share the same minimum system requirements so they will mostly work on same PCs. However, Windows 11 Home editions have different upper limits compared to Windows 11 Pro. For example, Windows 11 Home PC can only use one CPU socket and thus only one CPU. Similarly, Windows 11 Home edition only support up to 64 CPU cores while Windows 11 Pro can have up to 128. Windows 11 Home has 128GB of RAM limit while Windows 11 Pro takes that up to 2TB that is mostly going to be useful if you want to create lots of virtual machine with plenty of RAM assigned to them.
Windows 11 Home Vs Windows 11 Pro: Enterprise Management Features
Most device management capabilities are not available in Windows 11 Home edition at all while Windows 11 Pro supports things like Group Policy offers IT admin configure certain policies for groups of devices in one go. There is also Windows Update for business, which offers company control how updates are rolled out to their users to avoid unexpected issues. Let’s take a look at some exclusive features of Windows 11 Pro include.
- Mobile device management
- Group Policy
- Enterprise State Roaming
- Assigned Access
- Dynamic Provisioning
- Windows Update for Business
- Kiosk mode
- Active Directory/Azure AD
Microsoft Store for business was there on Windows 10 while Windows 11 is going to use a different approach. Microsoft is actually retrying the Microsoft Store for business altogether and replacing it with new management experience which should still only work for Windows 11 Pro edition devices.
Conclusion
I am sure this post helped you on ‘Windows 11 Home Vs Pro Comparison’ and help you to know which one is better Windows 11 upgrade edition to. Most of them resolve around the features meant for business users. Some are designed to protect sensitive information while others have to do with quickly setting up devices for users and managing them remotely. That’s all. For any suggestions or queries, please write on comment box below.
