Windows XP Pro vs. Home

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and as such it is best to learn the full system, and implement it at work AND home.

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If I can secure both just as well as one another, why bother? If I can apply the same level of security XP Pro offers on my XP Home machine, then why spend an extra $50 - $100 on "bells and whistles" that I can already secure a machine without?

Your argument of "Use both so you know both at home and work" makes as much sense as a Military father who is a Captain at work that gets his food cooked upon demand, go home and scream and order his wife at attention to cook him a four course meal.

Different situations call for different uses, or else there wouldn't be differences. The differences between Home and Pro are trivial, seriously, and thus why since he is a home user, it is more efficient for him to use a cheaper XP home that he already owns than purchase a new OS that does nothing special that I can't make XP home already do. If he wanted that deep level of NASA paranoia then he could also look into third party firewalls, virus scanners, and permission handlers and still save more money than having to purchase a preofessional based OS that he does not need.

Any paticular reason you're looking at Dual CPU for your upgrade? And the Quatro FX line of cards? In ~99% of the cases you will have no need for this level of hardware at your house. This level of stuff is reserved for workstation class computers, and unless you really know why you want it, you would be better off not paying the premium for this level of hardware. And judging from your current storage specs, and your description of usage, you aren't working with enough stuff that a single CPU computer couldn't handle well enough.

I'll admit that I use a dual CPU system and it kicks butt. I do a bit of video processing work, and that is probably the only thing to take full advantage of dual CPU other than doing 3d rendering work and Folding@Home. Also, only special types of 3d rendering can take advantage of the Quatro FX's features, and this type isn't the kind used in gaming. More like CAD/Engineering level stuff and special simulations where traditional CPUs simply don't have the vertex processing power to render scenes to save to the disk, etc.

You're much better off price-wise to stick to "consumer-level" stuff. Later.

Ive used both home and PRO. The main diferance I see is that Pro has more programs preinstalled. Im currently useing Pro and I like it.

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Your argument of "Use both so you know both at home and work" makes as much sense as a Military father who is a Captain at work that gets his food cooked upon demand, go home and scream and order his wife at attention to cook him a four course meal.

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I didn't say 'use both' I said:

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SELL the five copies you have, buy XP Pro,

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He has FIVE copies............... All gratis...........

And yes; set up at home as you would want your workplace to be.

As for your analogy of the 'military father'. I take it that you are NOT from a military family.......
Officers get what they require by ASKING. Although to be fair, they ASK the CSM, and HE shouts :D

And I am not saying spend the extra money. He has 5 copies, selling them would anti up sufficient to buy XP Pro AND some 3rd party S/W. Why keep 5 copies ?................

As for the rest of your post: you are eminently more experienced in the art of IT than I shall ever be, and I agree with all that you say.

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If he wanted that deep level of NASA paranoia

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Then he has certainly come to the right place :D

Your tutorials on securing XP is the path I shall follow. As and when I upgrade.

http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=255353
http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=255443

So, to clarify my position, LeeBkr311 is just starting out on his chosen path. At work he uses OBSD. So he has these XP home editions spare. Keeping all 5 seems kind of stupid. Selling them, and using the money to buy XP Pro, which is an OS with more security facilities ready built in, and which he could use / learn would IMHO bring him more benefits than 'just' running the Home Edition. As he is in the IT world, it is possible that he will require knowledge of the MS Windows Pro editions at some point on his career path.

If you going to be building that serious of a machine then you will probly want to check this out before spending the bucks on XP Pro
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/default.mspx

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I didn't say 'use both' I said

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My mistake :) I meant to quote when you wanted him to use it both at work and at home.

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As for your analogy of the 'military father'. I take it that you are NOT from a military family.......
Officers get what they require by ASKING. Although to be fair, they ASK the CSM, and HE shout

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I am a 21 year old navy brat, from a father who served for 24 years and just recently retired. I know how they actually act, but the example was merely an example :) Nothing more, so no worries on that.

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Then he has certainly come to the right place

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I would agree. But this is for his home machine and that's the only reason why I recommended XP Home. On any other circumstance I would recommend pro, but he mentioned only wanting basic capabilities of internet, music, sound, etc. On a professional level for anywhere other than typical home use, you are completely correct in recommending pro!

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Keeping all 5 seems kind of stupid. Selling them, and using the money to buy XP Pro, which is an OS with more security facilities ready built in, and which he could use / learn would IMHO bring him more benefits than 'just' running the Home Edition. As he is in the IT world, it is possible that he will require knowledge of the MS Windows Pro editions at some point on his career path.

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Ah, okay I can see that point. I was leaning more towards the side of "it -can- be as secure as Pro, don't forget that", while you were leaning towards "it isn't about the extra security, it's about learning it for future jobs/careers". Looks like I just wasn't reading fully again :) You have made a valid point though foxy to which I do agree with, now that I can see what you mean eye to eye.

On a side note, I have noticed that with new computers that they are only offering home now. It used to be not long ago you could upgrade to pro for a little more.