Windows 10 Home vs. Windows 10 Pro: What's the Difference, and Which One Is for You?

Microsoft Windows 10 for desktop, the successor to Windows 8.1, comes in two versions: Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Home. This is a stark contrast to earlier versions of Windows, which came in as many as seven editions. Of the two editions, Windows 10 Pro, as you may have guessed, has more features. Unlike Windows 7 and 8.1, in which the basic variant was markedly crippled with fewer features than its professional counterpart, Windows 10 Home packs in a large set of new features that should suffice most users' needs. This begs the question, which among Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Home is the right version for you.

What do you get with Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 Home is the basic variant of Windows 10. It comes with a number of new features including the revamped Start Menu. The company decided to chop it off from Windows 8 three years ago, but on popular demand, this feature is making a return to the desktop operating system. You also get a full-fledged version of Cortana, the digital voice assistant formerly exclusively available on Windows Phone. Other than that, the Home edition also gets you features like Battery Saver, TPM support, and company's new biometrics security feature called Windows Hello.

The Pro edition of Windows 10, in addition to all of Home edition's features, offers sophisticated connectivity and privacy tools such as Domain Join, Group Policy Management, Bitlocker, Enterprise Mode Internet Explorer (EMIE), Assigned Access 8.1, Remote Desktop, Client Hyper-V, and Direct Access.

While Windows 10 Home and Pro are direct paths for retail users, there are other variants of Windows 10 as well like Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Student. The Enterprise edition, as you may expect, is meant to meet the demands of medium and large sized organisations. It comes with even more sophisticated features such as Device Guard, which gives a company the ability to lock down devices. Unlike the other two Windows 10 Editions, however, the Enterprise variant won't be available for sale in retail stores. Instead, it will be sold through volume licensing.

If you are a new user, Windows 10 Home will set you back by Rs. 7,999, while Windows 10 Pro will cost Rs. 14,999. Alternatively, if you are already on Windows 10 Technical Preview, you can continue to enjoy all the features of the new operating system for free as long as you've a Microsoft account (email account with Outlook or Live) and opt-in for future pre-release updates on either the Fast or Slow cycle.

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