These are the core differences in Windows 11 Home vs Pro editions. As we've mentioned, most of them revolve around features meant for business users. Some are designed to protect especially sensitive information, while others have to do with quickly setting up devices for users and managing them remotely. For the average person walking into a store, you're probably going to be just fine with Windows 11 Home.
Which Is Fast Windows 10 Home Or Pro The odds are if you need Windows 11 Pro, you already know you need it and why. New releases of Windows 10, called feature updates, are released twice a year as a free update for existing Windows 10 users. Each feature update contains new features and other changes to the operating system. The pace at which a system receives feature updates is dependent on the release branch from which the system downloads its updates. Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise and Education could optionally use a branch, which is defunct since version 1903, that received updates at a slower pace. These modes could be managed through system settings, Windows Server Update Services , Windows Update for Business, Group Policy or through mobile device management systems such as Microsoft Intune.
This edition was introduced in July 2016 for hardware partners on new devices purchased with the discounted K–12 academic license. It also features a "Set Up School PCs" app that allows provisioning of settings using a USB flash drive, and does not include Cortana, Microsoft Store suggestions, Windows Sandbox, or Windows Spotlight. The idea is Windows 10 S won't slow down after 6-12 months of use. You could make the argument that a Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro machine does, in fact, slow down over time, due to installing and uninstalling lots of apps and games.
Some of those programs may add themselves to your startup folder, slowing down login times. You may also find that some programs change up the registry quite a bit, which can also slow down your PC over time too. Pro users can get updates from Windows Update for Business, which includes options for scheduling updates so they don't reboot PCs at important business times. Bitlocker provides full disk encryption so you can keep your data safe from hackers. The latest iteration of Bitlocker also allows for the encryption of individual files for more flexibility than the all-or-nothing approach of previous versions.
Again, other software can accomplish similar encryption, but it's not built into the OS. Be sure to get an SSD that supports the necessary hardware acceleration for Bitlocker if you don't want to lose performance. Of course, the bulk of the differences between Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 are for businesses. Most device management capabilities aren't available in Windows 11 Home at all.
Windows 11 Pro, however, supports things like Group Policy, which lets IT admins configure certain policies for groups of devices in one go. There's also Windows Update for Business, which lets companies control how updates are rolled out to their users to avoid unexpected issues. As business users often deal with especially sensitive information, there are also some extra security features in Windows 11 Pro. This feature encrypts data stored on your hard drive so no one else can access it.
Even if your computer is stolen, your files are protected from users other than yourself. As you may know, every major version of Windows comes in a few different editions. The same applies to Windows 11, which has mostly the same editions as Windows 10 aside from the upcoming Windows 11 SE for education. For most people though, it's going to come down to Home and Pro.
These are the two editions you'll be able to find in stores or pre-installed on computers. If you're looking for a comparison of Windows 11 Home vs Windows 11 Pro, we've rounded up all the major differences here. The reasoning is that RDP is meant to assist business professionals who find themselves working remotely from time to time. It creates a secure connection between work and home computers that allows the user to access files, programs, and other sensitive material. This isn't a particularly useful feature for those just looking to game, and there are plenty of free or low-cost options available with similar functionality if you need it. Microsoft has said the new OS will include performance improvements, including faster logins with Windows Hello, faster web browsing and faster wake from sleep mode.
Windows Hello is a biometrics-based technology that lets Windows 10 users authenticate secure access to their devices, apps and networks with iris scans, facial recognition or fingerprints. The option to defer new features is another helpful feature of Windows Home 10. System updates can improve the operating system's efficiency, but they also run the risk of mucking with game-specific settings.
Auto-updates could overwrite stored game parameters, forcing you to re-enter them manually. Updates may wreak havoc on the gaming routine, especially if you earn your gameplay by streaming or publishing discussion videos. Game Mode is now available in Windows 10 Home, which improves performance and allows you to stream video from your PC to your mixer without the need to install any additional software.
Game Mode reduces the number of computing operations that obstruct gaming apps. Although most users say that Game Mode improves performance, there is a devoted anti-Game Mode gaming audience. The major reason for this is that certain games just do not work well in Game Mode, either they're too huge or because they are designed that way. That means if the user wants to download any particular app or game, it must come from the Windows Store otherwise it simply won't install. This, in theory, is more secure, and over time keeps your machine running smoothly, as chances of installing malware or rogue programs are zero to none. What's more, Windows Store apps don't add themselves to your startup folder when you install them, which also means that over time your login time won't slow down as you install more apps on your PC.
Another difference that will be noticeable for business users is that Windows 11 Home PCs can't be joined to Active Directory. Active Directory solutions are necessary for managing business devices, such as configuring access to certain resources, deploying apps, and so on. Those are all professional tools, so they don't make sense for most Windows 11 Home users. For starters, there's DirectX 12 Ultimate, which has the potential to make games even prettier with higher frame rates.
This latter point is a step up from the default SDR approach of older versions of Windows. But for everyone else, especially those who simply need an OS for gaming, it's just a bunch of unnecessary features packaged within the ability to handle additional RAM that you'll never use. Our mission with Windows is to build a platform that inspires creativity in each of us.
With Windows, not only do we want to build a platform that inspires creativity in each of us – we also want customers to have choice around the best Windows for their needs. Back in May, we introduced a new set of educational products and services, including the introduction of Windows 10 S. Windows 10 S is the next step of our Windows journey by offering customers a familiar Windows 10 experience, streamlined for security and performance. Windows 10 Pro comes with a handy "multiplayer" feature that allows you to create a virtual environment in which you may run and test apps, first installing them across the entire system. This function comes in handy when you're not sure if the program you've installed is safe or not.
The "Ultra" technology in Windows Pro 10 allows you to run virtual computers. This function isn't beneficial for gaming, but it comes in handy if you have a number of virtual machines running on your desktop. Users of Windows 8 may breathe a sigh of relief since the start menu has returned in Windows 10.
Most desktop users found it very difficult to navigate between applications in Windows 8 without the start menu; therefore, Microsoft has reinstated it. Together with the start menu, the basic tiled design of Windows 8 has been preserved. From the start menu with Windows 10, you can easily access common programs, including mail, temperature, banking, maps, and so on. Microsoft has attempted to solve the issue by developing a function that can be used on both a PC and a touch screen.
You can easily get to this setting by typing adjust appearance in the Start menu's search box. In the dialog, you can use the radio button at the top labeled Adjust for best performance or select which eye-candy features you can live without from the long list of check boxes below these choices. If you choose the overall best-performance button, you'll lose all of the visual effects. For example, you won't see the contents of a window you're dragging move, but rather just a rectangle representing the window's edges.
Keeping the effects that you enjoy checked in the dialog is probably a better way to go. You can also get to this tool from the new Settings app and searching for "maintenance" or "performance." Windows 10 manages memory more efficiently than earlier versions of the OS, but more memory always can potentially speed up PC operations. For a lot of today's Windows devices, such as the Surface Pro tablets, however, adding RAM isn't an option. Gaming and business laptops often still allow RAM upgrades, but that's becoming more rare. The new, slimmer ultrabooks and convertibles are usually fixed.
If you still use a desktop tower, this article can show you how to add RAM. The bigger RAM makers' websites all offer product finders that show you which type of RAM your PC takes, and prices are pretty reasonable. Though the situation is improving, unnecessary preinstalled software installed by PC makers continues to be an issue with some new computers. A couple of years ago, a Lenovo PC we tested had nearly 20 so-called helper programs installed, and these would occasionally and unwantedly pop up and interrupt what we were doing on the computer. More recently, the count of preinstalled, unnecessary software has dropped.
A new HP laptop included just nine of these apps, while a recent Asus model only had five. Even Microsoft is not blameless in this game, though, including a couple of games from King and perhaps some mixed reality software you may not be interested in. The professional version of Windows 10 includes many extra features designed for businesses.
It has virtually everything offered by Windows Home, plus additional security and management services. This version of Windows 10 is typically purchased in bulk by companies or schools, though you can configure desktops and laptops to include it versus using Home. Several features in Windows 10 Professional are aimed squarely at the business market. Domain join, for example, allows you to bring in your own PC and connect it to the office domain.
Group policy management allows an IT admin to control which PCs do what. Likewise, if your business needs specialized enterprise apps, an admin can lock down the Windows Store to make sure employees get those, and nothing else. There's also the ability to join Azure Active Directory, with single sign-on capabilities. Hyper-V is a Windows-only hypervisor used for running virtual machines on CPUs that support virtualization.
While Hyper-V is included with your Windows 10 Pro license, it needs to be downloaded and installed separately. Microsoft has offered a Pro version of Windows since the XP days, bringing with it additional features for power users that Home doesn't offer. Here's a breakdown of the most useful features that you get with Windows 10 Pro, as well as free alternatives, when applicable. Hyper-V is a virtualization tool built into Windows, which means you can create virtual machines with it.
If you want to try a different operating system, or use an older version of Windows for some reason, you can do it using Hyper-V. Virtual machines don't make changes to your host PC, so you can do it all risk-free. Again, there are third-party apps such as VMware Workstation Player that let you do this on Home editions. Microsoft has offered Pro versions of their OS since Windows XP. Similar to every other Pro model, the Windows 10 version is designed with business professionals in mind.
It includes the core Windows 10 Home OS, but with a handful of additional security, productivity, and business management features. The Creators Update includes the best Skype ever for Windows PCs. It is easy to use with keyboard shortcuts, conversation search, and a redesigned group video calling view that brings everyone even closer together. Be more productive on your PC and collaborate over Skype – share screens, photos, videos, documents, and files .
Say "hello" with an instant message, voice or video call, all for free, no matter what device you use Skype on. The "Media Feature Pack" can be installed to restore these features. The variation cannot be changed without a clean install, and keys for one variation will not work on other variations. For system speedup, it makes sense to replace your internal startup hard drive, and if you use a laptop, this may also be an option. But an external SSD with a USB 3.0 connection can also give you a speed boost in applications that use a lot of storage. For help in choosing which device to install, check out PCMag's article, The Best SSDs.
If that's still too much, and your computer is very old, has a hard drive rather than an SSD , and has little RAM, you could try using ReadyBoost with a USB stick. This caches data on the portable storage device's storage to speed up memory access that would be slower with a spinning hard drive. Just go to the USB key's File Explorer entry, right-click to open Properties, and switch to the ReadyBoost tab to get going. For most up-to-date systems, this feature won't be available and would provide no performance boost. You can usually find the culprits by sorting the list of installed apps on the name of your PC maker.
Other good options are to sort by Recent to see if there are any programs you didn't know you installed; or by Size, to get rid of very large items you don't need. When you've found junk apps you don't want, simply select them and click Uninstall. Unfortunately, you can only remove one at a time, so set aside a half hour or so for this project if you have a bunch of bloatware. Don't forget to take the hatchet to apps you installed yourself but no longer want, and for software you don't want that was installed alongside software you did want. The problem with a lot of Windows speedup stories is that they tell you to turn off some of the operating system's more-fun features, such as visual animations.
Most of our tips show you ways you can speed up your Windows 10 system without compromising its appearance and functionality. Most are also free, but some involve spending a little cash on software or hardware. For people with older, low-power machines who want a speed boost but don't care about extra goodies, a couple of the tips towards the end do boost system performance at the expense of visual bling. After all, why would a Windows 10 user want to upgrade if Windows 11 speed is not equal, or greater?
Now, Microsoft has finally explained exactly why and how Windows 11 speed will be faster than the Windows 10 operating system. In the video, Steve Dispensa, VP of Enterprise Management at Microsoft talks about the key factors that make Windows 11 better than Windows. He also talks about the rationale behind Windows 11 system requirements. The best and cheapest speed optimization tip for most users is the in-place repair. If you don't mind losing some of your installed programs, a factory reset is another great option. The biggest cause of any slowdown is badly-written programs.
