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But suppose you want Bitlocker encryption and other business features like the Group Policy Editor and Azure Active Directory, or have plans to add a terabyte of memory to your machine. At the end of the day, you always have the option to upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Pro by paying the extra amount. If you’re looking for Windows 10 Home, or even Windows 10 Pro, it’s possible to get Windows 10 for free onto your PC if you have Windows 7, which has reached EoL, or later. … If you already have a Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 a software/product key, you can upgrade to Windows 10 for free. WIP also provides separation between business and personal data.
Nevertheless, it’s worth understanding the differences between Home and Pro. Enterprise and Education SKUs are provided to organizations that have a volume licensing agreement, so you won’t find them on devices sold to consumers in stores. In the case of the latter, the differences between Home and Pro may not matter, depending on how your company’s IT department provides access to business resources.
Enterprise-Focused Features
The user interface provided by the Group Policy Editor is a significantly easier, more comfortable way to make changes to your system. While some versions are specifically created for business, others provide a top-notch experience for educational purposes or next-gen IoT devices. With Support for Active Directory, your IT staff can manage PCs, user accounts, security policies and get access to printers and files when you pair Windows 10 Pro with Windows Server.
Still, the Windows Pro users still have a slight advantage here. Namely, they can use Microsoft Edge with an additional security layer – Windows Sandbox. It allows you to launch a self-contained virtual environment and surf the web securely. Although it doesn’t provide anonymity and saves your history, it all vanishes when you close Sandbox.
Assigned Access
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So, in theory, at least, software solutions like BitLocker aren’t always required to protect the data stored on disk. But sometimes, the way hardware full disk encryption is implemented can leave data exposed, nonetheless. BitLocker is often preferred by organizations because it is easily managed using existing infrastructure.
Reasons Not to Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro
Here's a breakdown of the most useful features that you get with Windows 10 Pro, as well as free alternatives, when applicable. Businesses that require managing a lot of mobile devices and computers will find the features of Windows 10 Pro save a lot of headaches. Home users who wish to take advantage of built-in remote desktop features without using third-party solutions will also want to purchase Windows 10 Pro. For small businesses, it is almost always worth upgrading to 10 Pro.
These two features can be used for far more purposes than business security and operational scaling. Home use of remote desktop allows for wireless access, or streaming, of your desktop to another device. Any program installed on your PC can be used from any internet-connected screen like tablets and smartphones. Hyper-V is a Windows-only hypervisor used for running virtual machines on CPUs that support virtualization.
Windows 10 Pro vs. Home: Security
Another powerful weapon Windows 10 Pro has is the ability to arrange updates via the cloud. That way, you can update multiple computers and laptops in a domain simultaneously from a central PC. This is quite a time-saving feature organization find helpful, which is why they prefer Windows 10 Pro over the Home version. That’s a $40-$80 difference that could be put towards a better video card or more memory, but only if you don’t need the additional features Windows 10 Pro offers.
BitLocker is an encryption tool that protects all the files stored on your hard drive or external source, including USB flash drives. This feature is quite useful if you keep your personal data on your PC, meaning that you can access it only with a password. To use this feature, your computer or laptop needs a TPM chip because it doesn’t work without one. Other features like group policy management, Assigned Access, and the ability to join a domain are unlikely to be very useful outside of the workplace. Assigned Access allows an admin to lock down Windows and allow access to only one app under a specified user account. Group Policy meanwhile allows you to restrict access to any number of Windows features and configure any setting within the operating system.
Both versions offer a variety of features, but there are some key differences between the two. Regarding security features, we can agree that Windows 10 Home and Pro have a lot in common. Windows 10 Pro has a broader set of features compared to the Home version. While Windows 10 Home meets the home users’ basic computing needs, the Pro version delivers a more advanced experience to organizations that seek easier and more centralized management.
This is particularly useful when devices are lost, stolen, or reprovisioned because IT can wipe business data from employee-owned devices without touching any personal data. Windows Information Protection is also missing from Windows 10 Home, although it’s not as widely used as BitLocker. DLP products control how employees use information that they have legitimate access to. For example, a WIP policy could prevent users forwarding email attachments to people outside the organization. The easiest way to approach comparing Windows 10 Home vs Pro is to look at what you don’t get in Home. Each category below describes what you’re going to miss out on if you buy a device with Windows 10 Home.
However, once that date hits, you must install current updates before pausing again. However, like both of the above functions, Windows 10 Home users have free alternatives. Hyper-V is a fine tool, but for the casual VM user, VirtualBox will do the trick just fine. See our full user guide to VirtualBox for everything you need to get started. Those who bought their PC new with Windows 10 probably have the Home edition.
Windows 10 Home is designed for use in PCs, laptops, and 2-in-1s. Windows 10 Home includes all the features of Windows 10 except for Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education. Windows 10 Home also includes support for Windows Hello and Cortana. Windows 10 Home is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
Windows 10 Home doesn’t support Microsoft Remote Desktop, which is used to control your PC over the internet. However, you do have third-party apps like TeamViewer and Chrome Remote Desktop. As we've seen, Windows 10 Pro packs some solid features, but they're mostly unnecessary for home audiences . Use the alternatives listed above and save your cash for something more useful.
However, unless you're running dozens of virtual machines, you’re not going to exceed the memory limits of Home any time soon. Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Home are effectively the same things. However, Windows 10 Home has advanced features locked as 10 Pro features like built-in remote desktop and BitLocker security. Windows 10 Pro advanced features are geared mainly for businesses. Both 10 Home and 10 Pro have the same consumer features like Xbox game pass streaming. Based on that key, Windows makes a set of features available in the OS.
