Yet another foray into which version to buy...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lang Murphy
  • Start date Start date
L

Lang Murphy

Hmm... thinking about the different versions and the capabilities of each...
I work with a guy who has a consulting business on the side. He will not
install XP Home in any situation; swears by XP Pro, even for home
installations because he says XP Home presents too many problems with
networking. His two cents. Don't think he's trying to get his customers to
spend more money, just make his life easier, methinks. Considering that I
can't connect from Vista RTM to a printer hanging off an XP Home box, but if
I take that printer and hang it off an XP Pro box, I can connect without
issue, I may have to give some weight to my co-worker's opinion.

So... the delta between Vista Home Premium and Business is $60. I am
wondering if it's worth that extra $60 to go with Business? I guess the hard
question here is, or maybe better put, the unknown here is: just exactly how
has networking changed from XP Home to Vista Home Premium... wondering if
Home Premium does a better job at handling certain networking tasks than XP
Home does... jes' wondering out loud, I suppose.

Plus... Business has Complete PC Backup Restore, which is something I like.
I haven't tried Acronis, but I think I've seen positive comments on it in
this NG. Well, don't know that I need to, or would, use much more
functionality that what Complete PC Backup Restore offers and Acronis is
$50, so -my- delta between Home Premium and Business has just shrunk to $10.
Hmm...

Lang
 
I won't bother getting heavily into XP networking here, save to say that in
98% of all cases if it works on an XP Pro computer it should work on an XP
Home computer unless you've screwed it up. :-)

What I will get into instead is the fact that I'm not sure that recommending
Vista Business instead of Vista Home Premium is doing a service to home
users. Look at the feature charts and see what the home user doesn't get if
you convince them to buy a copy of the Business version instead of the Home
Premium version.

Comparing XP Home and XP Pro there really isn't much difference. Both
contain essentially the same tools, the same utilities, etc. Comparing
Vista Business and Vista Home Premium there is a huge difference in what the
user gets. I just don't think the Business version is a good match for home
users.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
 
I used the complete system backup in Vista until I started using TrueImage
HOME 10.0.

I have now turned off system restore and no longer use Vista backup.

With TrueImage you have almost infinite control of the finalized
disk/partition image and the image can be compressed. In fact, using
"normal" compression is faster than using no compression.

Because of my disk layout (2 SATA drives and 2 IDE drives) I have to
physically disconnect the 2 IDE drives if I want to restore, using the Vista
backup/restore program. If I don't, booting from the Vista DVD writes
information to the primary IDE drive and will trash it, causing loss of the
entire drives data. This happened to me 3 times.

Booting from the TrueImage CD I just browse to where the image file is saved
and implement the restore process. I can leave all the drives physically
connected.


--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
Lang--

Have a good holiday with your family. Guys like you, me, Mr. Harper, know a
lot of ways to backup--probably have tried a few imagers. Acronis is
widely praised and highly reliable and I have it--at least one that worked
for XP and I could probably kick around and update to work for Vista, or
might have to get a new one, but the virtue of the simplistic backup in
Vista is that anyone can use it so hopefully it will encourage people to
backup with a higher percent than it's estimated or surveyed that happens in
homes and small businesses and incrementally.

I agree with the criticisms that it should be able to do more in detail at
the file level, and suspect there will be an update to it--I can't figure
out why they offer so many browse opportunities in wizards and don't offer
more detail in the backup

Here's the most detailed differentiation of editions I could find:

Which Vista is Right for You
http://www.extremetech.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=195652,00.asp

CH
 
I agree with your collegue. Up 'til now XP Pro is the no-brainer Windows
client OS - especially for laptops. Imagine the frustration of thousands who
took their laptops running Home to campus only to find they could not
connect. Sure many people do just fine with Home .. but as said, once one
gets into networking Home quickly shows its limitations and annoying
behaviours.
 
Richard,

Thanks for the feedback. "Roger that" on whether business is a good fit for
home users. I guess we all have to measure the features and decide which
we're going to "replace" with 3rd party apps if we don't want to spring for
Ultimate.

Lang

Richard G. Harper said:
I won't bother getting heavily into XP networking here, save to say that in
98% of all cases if it works on an XP Pro computer it should work on an XP
Home computer unless you've screwed it up. :-)

What I will get into instead is the fact that I'm not sure that
recommending Vista Business instead of Vista Home Premium is doing a
service to home users. Look at the feature charts and see what the home
user doesn't get if you convince them to buy a copy of the Business
version instead of the Home Premium version.

Comparing XP Home and XP Pro there really isn't much difference. Both
contain essentially the same tools, the same utilities, etc. Comparing
Vista Business and Vista Home Premium there is a huge difference in what
the user gets. I just don't think the Business version is a good match
for home users.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


Lang Murphy said:
Hmm... thinking about the different versions and the capabilities of
each... I work with a guy who has a consulting business on the side. He
will not install XP Home in any situation; swears by XP Pro, even for
home installations because he says XP Home presents too many problems
with networking. His two cents. Don't think he's trying to get his
customers to spend more money, just make his life easier, methinks.
Considering that I can't connect from Vista RTM to a printer hanging off
an XP Home box, but if I take that printer and hang it off an XP Pro box,
I can connect without issue, I may have to give some weight to my
co-worker's opinion.

So... the delta between Vista Home Premium and Business is $60. I am
wondering if it's worth that extra $60 to go with Business? I guess the
hard question here is, or maybe better put, the unknown here is: just
exactly how has networking changed from XP Home to Vista Home Premium...
wondering if Home Premium does a better job at handling certain
networking tasks than XP Home does... jes' wondering out loud, I suppose.

Plus... Business has Complete PC Backup Restore, which is something I
like. I haven't tried Acronis, but I think I've seen positive comments on
it in this NG. Well, don't know that I need to, or would, use much more
functionality that what Complete PC Backup Restore offers and Acronis is
$50, so -my- delta between Home Premium and Business has just shrunk to
$10. Hmm...

Lang
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Richard,

Thanks for the feedback. Will check out TrueImage HOME 10.0. Appreciate it.

Lang
 
Chad,

Hey, hope this holiday season is great for you and yours.

I'm most experienced with Drive Image Pro, for which Symantec is continuing
support for our project, due to utilities that Ghost doesn't support yet,
but have used Ghost here too.

You caught my point... the simplistic backup. My intent is to snap an image
after initial OS and app install/config. If something goes south, it's "bare
metal" baby! Backups of data files will not occur via Complete PC Backup
Restore or any other imaging tool, although I know guys that do that for
backup. I just don't have the gigage to do that on a regular basis, although
the cost of gigage continues to plummet, so... maybe that's a future
alternative.

Thanks for the ExtemeTech link... will check it out, fer sure, dude. LOL.
Sorry... laughing at one's own jokes that no one else gets is a bit, uh,
dopey? Work with a bunch of guys in SoCal... was out there, on site, for 3
years. "Dude" this, "dude" that... hahaha. I went to a party a couple of
weeks ago and had a few brewskies and was, heh, heh, heh... like "dude" this
and "dude" that and you don't get that much "dude-age"in the over 50 crowd
in Georgia, so some of the folks at the party were amused. Babble...
sorry... LOL.

Lang
 
Saucy,

Ah, so the guy's not a complete idiot, hey? Hahaha. Naw... he's a good guy,
and like I posted, I've had issues with XP Home as relates to networking
so... I think we're of the same mind. Cool.

Thanks for the feedback; appreciated.

Lang
 
Acronis will likely have an update to TrueImage HOME within a month or so.
Be sure to register your serial number on their web site to be able to
download the backup. Don't forget your account information. You need it to
log-in to get an update.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
It does certainly seem to be a tough call that requires taking into
account the specifics of the specific home user.

Lang said:
Richard,

Thanks for the feedback. "Roger that" on whether business is a good fit
for home users. I guess we all have to measure the features and decide
which we're going to "replace" with 3rd party apps if we don't want to
spring for Ultimate.

Lang

Richard G. Harper said:
I won't bother getting heavily into XP networking here, save to say
that in 98% of all cases if it works on an XP Pro computer it should
work on an XP Home computer unless you've screwed it up. :-)

What I will get into instead is the fact that I'm not sure that
recommending Vista Business instead of Vista Home Premium is doing a
service to home users. Look at the feature charts and see what the
home user doesn't get if you convince them to buy a copy of the
Business version instead of the Home Premium version.

Comparing XP Home and XP Pro there really isn't much difference. Both
contain essentially the same tools, the same utilities, etc.
Comparing Vista Business and Vista Home Premium there is a huge
difference in what the user gets. I just don't think the Business
version is a good match for home users.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


Lang Murphy said:
Hmm... thinking about the different versions and the capabilities of
each... I work with a guy who has a consulting business on the side.
He will not install XP Home in any situation; swears by XP Pro, even
for home installations because he says XP Home presents too many
problems with networking. His two cents. Don't think he's trying to
get his customers to spend more money, just make his life easier,
methinks. Considering that I can't connect from Vista RTM to a
printer hanging off an XP Home box, but if I take that printer and
hang it off an XP Pro box, I can connect without issue, I may have to
give some weight to my co-worker's opinion.

So... the delta between Vista Home Premium and Business is $60. I am
wondering if it's worth that extra $60 to go with Business? I guess
the hard question here is, or maybe better put, the unknown here is:
just exactly how has networking changed from XP Home to Vista Home
Premium... wondering if Home Premium does a better job at handling
certain networking tasks than XP Home does... jes' wondering out
loud, I suppose.

Plus... Business has Complete PC Backup Restore, which is something I
like. I haven't tried Acronis, but I think I've seen positive
comments on it in this NG. Well, don't know that I need to, or would,
use much more functionality that what Complete PC Backup Restore
offers and Acronis is $50, so -my- delta between Home Premium and
Business has just shrunk to $10. Hmm...

Lang
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Daze,

Yeah, that's kinda my point... One must balance features vs. 3rd party apps
that replicate those features and just how feature rich one needs an app to
be to do what one needs to do. Of course, spending, for the sake of
arguement, 8 hours to determine the right path so one can save $50... hmm...
I guess, ultimately, no pun intended, it's more about what one needs to do
than how much one must spend to do it.

Lang

Daze N. Knights said:
It does certainly seem to be a tough call that requires taking into
account the specifics of the specific home user.

Lang said:
Richard,

Thanks for the feedback. "Roger that" on whether business is a good fit
for home users. I guess we all have to measure the features and decide
which we're going to "replace" with 3rd party apps if we don't want to
spring for Ultimate.

Lang

Richard G. Harper said:
I won't bother getting heavily into XP networking here, save to say that
in 98% of all cases if it works on an XP Pro computer it should work on
an XP Home computer unless you've screwed it up. :-)

What I will get into instead is the fact that I'm not sure that
recommending Vista Business instead of Vista Home Premium is doing a
service to home users. Look at the feature charts and see what the home
user doesn't get if you convince them to buy a copy of the Business
version instead of the Home Premium version.

Comparing XP Home and XP Pro there really isn't much difference. Both
contain essentially the same tools, the same utilities, etc. Comparing
Vista Business and Vista Home Premium there is a huge difference in what
the user gets. I just don't think the Business version is a good match
for home users.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


Hmm... thinking about the different versions and the capabilities of
each... I work with a guy who has a consulting business on the side. He
will not install XP Home in any situation; swears by XP Pro, even for
home installations because he says XP Home presents too many problems
with networking. His two cents. Don't think he's trying to get his
customers to spend more money, just make his life easier, methinks.
Considering that I can't connect from Vista RTM to a printer hanging
off an XP Home box, but if I take that printer and hang it off an XP
Pro box, I can connect without issue, I may have to give some weight to
my co-worker's opinion.

So... the delta between Vista Home Premium and Business is $60. I am
wondering if it's worth that extra $60 to go with Business? I guess the
hard question here is, or maybe better put, the unknown here is: just
exactly how has networking changed from XP Home to Vista Home
Premium... wondering if Home Premium does a better job at handling
certain networking tasks than XP Home does... jes' wondering out loud,
I suppose.

Plus... Business has Complete PC Backup Restore, which is something I
like. I haven't tried Acronis, but I think I've seen positive comments
on it in this NG. Well, don't know that I need to, or would, use much
more functionality that what Complete PC Backup Restore offers and
Acronis is $50, so -my- delta between Home Premium and Business has
just shrunk to $10. Hmm...

Lang
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, Richard.

Lang

Richard Urban said:
Acronis will likely have an update to TrueImage HOME within a month or so.
Be sure to register your serial number on their web site to be able to
download the backup. Don't forget your account information. You need it to
log-in to get an update.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
Click to expand...
 
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