BillW wrote:I would think that it would be both "Pro" and "Home". The only thing I am referring to is MS revamping there software and only supporting recent previous versions so that they can stay away from upgrade discounts as much as possible.
I've worked extensively with both Pro and Home and there is no comparison. Home is a cheap alternative with a pretty interface (if all you want is a pretty interface, go with Apple). It has best been likened to a simple update of the worst MS OS of all time, ME. Do not buy Home even if your life depends on it, death is sweeter and more peaceful.
Pro is a totally different OS, with real stability, security, and usability.
Also, speaking of support. Compared to the other major desktop OS maker, Apple, MS is doing a great job of supporting its old Oses. Windows update just stopped supporting Win95 in the late spring of this year (2003) and still maintains a page with all the critical and recommended updates for the OS. And that OS is over 8 years old now, archaic by even the most lenient standards. With the advent of much better OSes (Win2K, XP, 2K3) MS has shortened its support cycle while (apparently) lengthening its development cycle. Rumor has it that Win98 with cease being supported sometime early next year as that OS enters it's 6th year. And MS still maintains it's complete Knowledge Base (KB) articles on OSes 95 and later (with a few articles for 3.1).
Apple on the other hand has stopped supporting OS 9, which is only 3-4 years old by my reckoning (correct me if I'm wrong). And on the Apple site you are hard pressed to find a page which contains even the slightest support (KB) information on OS 8 (5 years).
Just some thoughts that may help...