Windows XP was designed from the ground up to work well on networks of all sizes. In most cases, setting up a simple home network is automatic.
Quickly fix connectivity problems
Are you having trouble connecting to other computers on your local area network? If your network uses a hardware firewall that assigns IP addresses to each machine and you're certain you've configured all other components correctly, check to see whether the Internet Connection Firewall is enabled. That component can effectively block communication between PCs on the network.
For step-by-step network setup instructions, see Chapter 29, "Setting Up a Small Network."
Figure 1-10. Using the Remote Desktop feature, you can connect to a Windows XP Professional machine from another PC, even if the remote computer is using an earlier Windows version.
For full instructions on how to set up and use the Remote Desktop feature, see "Setting Up a Remote Desktop Connection to Another Computer."
Professional or Home Edition: What's the Difference?
To understand the differences between the two editions of Windows XP, remember this simple fact: Windows XP Professional contains everything included in Windows XP Home Edition and much more.
The operating system kernel is identical in both editions. The Web browser works the same, as do all the file and folder management tools and techniques in Windows Explorer. Some default settings are different, depending on the edition in use; for instance, the taskbar is locked by default in Windows XP Home Edition but not in Professional. Regardless of which edition you use, you'll find most of the same system management utilities and troubleshooting tools, and there's no difference in the bundled applications used to manage digital media.
To discover the true differences between the two editions, you need to dig a little deeper. As Table 1-1 shows, most of the differences are obvious only when you use specialized hardware or try to access advanced security and networking features and capabilities.
If you consider yourself a power user, we predict you'll prefer Windows XP Professional. But that doesn't mean you need to upgrade every machine on your network. Windows XP Home Edition and Professional coexist happily on a network; in fact, both editions get along well with earlier Windows versions and even with computers running other operating systems. If you choose to use Home Edition, much of the information in this book is still relevant; in sections where we discuss advanced features available only in Windows XP Professional, we've highlighted that fact.
Table 1-1. Key Features Available Only in Windows XP Professional
Feature | Description |
---|---|
Support for multiple processors | Windows XP Professional supports symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) designs that employ up to two CPUs. If you install Windows XP Home Edition on an SMP system, it will not use the second processor. |
Support for 64-bit CPUs | Systems built around a 64-bit Intel Itanium processor must use a 64-bit version of Windows XP Professional; the Home Edition is unable to work with this CPU. |
Advanced security features | Several sophisticated security capabilities are found only in Windows XP Professional, including support for Encrypting File System and Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) as well as the ability to assign complex access controls to files. |
Internet Information Services | Using Windows XP Professional Edition, you can set up a personal Web server using Internet Information Services (IIS) 5; this capability is not available in Home Edition. |
Remote Desktop Connection | Using this feature, you can configure a Windows XP Professional machine to allow remote access, either across a local area network or over the Internet. The client machine can be running any 32-bit version of Windows, including Windows 95/98/Me, Windows 2000, or any version of Windows XP. You cannot make a remote connection to a system running Windows XP Home Edition (although it does include the similar Remote Assistance feature, which allows a remote user to share the desktop for support and training purposes). |
Domain membership | On a corporate network, Windows XP Professional Edition can join a domain and take advantage of domain-based management features such as group policies and roaming profiles. A system running Windows XP Home Edition can access domain resources such as printers and servers, but it does not exist as an object in the domain. |
Dynamic disks | Windows XP Professional allows you to create disk volumes that span multiple hard drives; this capability allows you to increase the storage capacity and performance of drives. Windows XP Home Edition supports only basic volumes, which follow the same basic partitioning rules as disk structures created in Windows 95/98 and Windows Me. | Content indexing | A service available in Windows XP Professional allows you to create an index of all content on your hard drive; the result is dramatically faster searches. This feature is not available in Home Edition. | -->