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Windows 11 Home vs. Pro: Which Is Best for You?

Windows 11 s now available to everyone who wants to purchase. It's the newest main version available for Windows which is also the first one in 6 years. It's got a lot to love about it. Not only do we get the latest UI, UX, and many other modifications, but we're also getting a number of new features even if not a lot of them will appear on the operating system in day one.





As with Windows 10, and as has been typical of Windows for several years, Windows 11 will come in different editions--Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro. But what are the major differences between both editions, and what's more important, which should you buy?





What is the reason there are different Windows 11 Editions?


Windows has had different versions for the majority of the time it has been Operating System. The reason for that is pretty simple. While a standard OS that isn't customizable with additional editions is certainly an option (and actually, was used for a considerable period of time) However, it's much better to have different versions of Windows because not everyone needs every feature, and not all computers support all features.





When we look back to the Windows XP days, we had two main versions--Windows XP Home Edition as well as Windows XP Professional. Most other editions pretty much simply branched off from those two. Later, Windows Vista, and after that, Windows 7, made things slightly more complicated by introducing several versions--Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Enterprise, Business, and Ultimate and with a distinct characteristics between each of them.





Windows 10 pro for us to say that it was kind of a mess, but for an outline, Starter was normally destined for PCs with lower specs and Home Basic and Home Premium were meant to cover home PC needs, Enterprise and Business were designed for computers that were used in business environments and Ultimate included everything in every edition.





Things were further condensed with Windows 10, as Microsoft offers Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro to users. windows 11 're not the only options, as there's several other versions with distinct features, such as Windows 10 in S mode, Windows 10 Pro for Workstations as well as Education and Enterprise, as well as a few more. For the most part, Home and Pro are the only two editions users need to be aware of.





Windows 10 Home is the version that comes with the majority of ordinary computers. Windows 10 Pro contains a handful of additional features and is available with more expensive or business-focused systems. We'll go into those in greater depth later. Windows 11 follows the exact same format of versions--there's Windows 11 Home along with Windows 11 Pro--and for the most of the time, differences between them are very similar to the differences between both Windows versions.





What Is the Difference Between Windows 11 Home and Pro?


User of Windows 11 Laptop


Microsoft compares both versions on the Microsoft website. A look at the website will give you an idea on the different features of both versions. And for the most part, Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro are more identical than you thought.





Windows 11 Home comes with all the features and creature amenities you'd expect in Windows 11, including Windows Hello, Secure Boot, Windows Security, parental controls devices encryption, and more.





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Also, features like WSL (Windows Subsystems for Linux) are accessible in the Home version of the operating system. Other features such as Android apps support (which is coming in a upcoming Windows 11 update) should be available on the Home version too.





Windows 11 Pro has everything the Home version has, while adding some additional options, primarily for professional environments. One of the most prominent one is BitLocker which is an encryption tool for full volumes that can encrypt your drive volume using 128-bit or 256 bit AES encryption and your computer's TPM. It also comes with a complete suite of business management and deployment tools, which include Azure integration as well as features like allocated access dynamic provisioning, kiosk mode setup, Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, full Windows Remote Desktop support, and much more.





There are some variations that the Microsoft website doesn't make evident. In the first place, Windows 11 Home doesn't support local accounts anymore , and it requires you to link to your Microsoft account (Windows 10 Home was able to support this, however it was removed in Windows 11 Home). Windows 11 Pro, meanwhile does support local accounts without needing to link with your Microsoft accounts to them.





There are some distinctions in terms of hardware limitations. Both come with the same minimum requirements, which include 4 GB RAM and 64 GB of storage, a 1 GHz dual-core CPU from Intel/AMD/Qualcomm, TPM 2.0, and a DirectX 12 compatible GPU.





But, Windows 11 Home only can support up to 64 CPU cores and 128 GB of RAM. Also, it doesn't work with systems that have two CPUs. It's enough, but if you need more for some reason Windows 11 Pro supports dual CPU systems with 64 cores each (for total of 128 cores) and up to 2 TB of RAM.





Which is the best option?


Person working on Windows 11 Tablet


We've now covered everything about the two variants of Windows 11, and up to this point, a lot of you might say the Windows 11 Pro is the best option. After all, there's basically nothing to lose by choosing Windows 11 Pro over Home. The requirements are identical regardless of the fact that your computer may not be utilized in a commercial setting or have some incredibly high-end specs You can still profit from features such as BitLocker or the ability to set up local accounts. But wait one minute, because we've never discussed pricing.





Presently, Windows 11 is being made available as a no-cost upgrade to Windows 10. The Windows 10 Pro license, which allows you to enable you to install Windows 11 on an eligible PC is priced at $199. Comparatively an Windows 10 Home license costs $139. The Home version is considerably cheaper than the Pro. If you decide to purchase Home and then decide to buy Pro at some point updating to an operating system that is Home up to Pro is another option available, however it's going to cost $99 on Microsoft Store. Microsoft Store, so that's even more expensive than buying Pro. Pro license in the first place.





In the end, though it all comes down to your personal usage scenario and requirements. For the most part, though, the majority of users will benefit from Windows 11 Home. If you're looking for the specific Pro feature, such as BitLocker, you'll probably want to upgrade to Pro instead however, you should consider whether it's worth the extra $65 (or the additional $99 in case you go for an update down the road).





Windows 11 Home is Probably good enough


We've just explained a few variations between Home and Pro. While Pro offers everything that the Home version does and more, the average user will be served just well with Windows 11 Home. All applications function the same except for BitLocker and a few business features, it'll function exactly the same way. If you require Pro for whatever reason, but it's got the same system requirements and local account support and some additional options.
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