Compare Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise

The Windows 10 operating system exists in several editions (versions). In particular, at the time of writing this material — April 2019 — 7 iterations are presented. However, four of them are the most widely used — Home, Pro, Enterprise and Education.

With the Home version (which also exists in two versions — “normal” and SL), everything is clear. This is the edition for home use, which, even in the boxed version, costs about $ 50 and has the minimum required functionality. Education is also a completely understandable version, it is intended for educational institutions and is not officially licensed in EU.

Much more interesting versions of Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. Let’s figure out which one is better and how they differ.

Common features of Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise

It should be noted right away that Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise are professional editions of the operating system. That is, they offer advanced functionality that most home users simply don’t need.

How often do home users use disk encryption, which makes data more secure, but at the same time greatly slows down work? Or maybe they run virtual machines on a Hyper-V hardware virtualization system? Or control group policy?

In the vast majority of cases, the features of Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise are needed for professional users. And the features common to these two editions that are missing in the Home builds are:

1. 
   Joining a domain. This is necessary for the operation of the group update system, application deployment, automatic management;

2. 
   Group Policy Management. Allows the network administrator to centrally disable and enable some settings on domain-joined computers;

3. 
   EMIE (Internet Explorer in Enterprise Mode). Switches the built-in browser of the operating system to the mode of operation that is most compatible with internal corporate sites;

4. 
   Access control. Helps to configure access for certain users, including network users, to certain files, folders, and so on;

5. 
   Remote desktop mode. Allows you to remotely connect to a PC running Windows 10 Pro/Enterprise through the native Remote Desktop tool. Important! It has limited support and Home. A computer with Windows 10 Home can act as a client — you can connect from it, but not to it;

6. 
   Hyper-V client. Virtualization tool for 64-bit processors with support for guest operating systems of the Linux and Windows families up to ten;

7. 
   bitlocker. A hard disk encryption tool that makes data unreadable if this HDD is connected to another computer or Windows is reinstalled;

8. 
   TPM2.0 support — a hardware-software system that checks the structure of the hard disk boot sector for the introduction of third-party virus applications.

Thus, TPM2.0 support is most interesting for home users, but it is implemented only if there is an appropriate chip on the motherboard. Hardware and software protection.

The rest of the features are either useless or even harmful.

About the Windows 10 Pro operating system

Windows 10 Pro is an edition with enhanced functionality that is needed for home and office use. It is suitable for people who need to perform very specific tasks on a computer, but do not need centralized management.

That is, for example, it is suitable for using Hyper-V virtualization technology and BitLocker hard drive encryption. For some home use scenarios, this is quite important.

It is also worth considering that Windows 10 Pro uses a standard activation mechanism. That is, during installation, the product key is indicated, which is on the box or sent by mail when purchasing an electronic license, after which the operating system contacts Microsoft servers and is automatically activated. That is, the use of a KMS server is not required.

About the Windows 10 Enterprise operating system

Windows 10 Enterprise — corporate edition of the operating system, which is focused on use in large companies with their own servers, local networks and other IT infrastructure.

This manifests itself in two aspects. Firstly, out of the box, several special services are built into it, aimed at improving intranet work. Secondly, it is sold by subscription, and not by a one-time payment for the entire period of use.

The unique services of the Enterprise Edition are:

1. BranchCache is a tool for speeding up updates, when each computer on the local network acts as a «seed». It also speeds up the transfer of files if they are stored on more than one «machine»;

2. Device Guard is a set of hardware and software technologies aimed at improving computer protection. Controls the integrity of the code, the loading process, working with RAM, and so on;

3. Credential Guard is a software set of technologies aimed at protecting your account. It helps not only to save passwords, but also to prevent access to personal files during hacker or virus attacks;

4. Direct Access is a utility for remote control of the operating system and computer.

Thus, ordinary users will only be interested in protective systems — Device Guard and Credential Guard. But their absence is completely compensated by some third-party antivirus with active and predictive threat detection (or the presence of a head on its shoulders so as not to download suspicious JS scripts from an email with the subject “Pay the bill urgently!”).

It is worth noting that you will not be able to license Windows 10 Enterprise on your own and for home use. This version of the operating system requires a separate contract with Microsoft. In addition, activation occurs through a KMS server on the local network, on which all the parameters necessary for licensing are located.

Comparison of Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise0e

And now you can compare these two operating systems to understand which one is better for home or office use.

Thus, Enterprise offers more different features. However, you cannot buy it for home use — you need to conclude an agreement with Microsoft. However, the functionality of both versions is excessive for most users.

The necessary and sufficient minimum of functions is offered by the Home configuration. It is just designed for home use.

A little about LTSB

Many users do not like the «ten» for the many built-in telemetry tools and a huge number of unnecessary pre-installed programs like the Microsoft News news service or the Microsoft Xbox game cataloger.

The problem is that both Pro and Enterprise have it all. But for people who still want a computer without tracking and extra software, there is a special kind of operating system — LTSB (Long-Term Support Branch).

Versions of LTSB are developed for banks, industries and large companies — in general, for IT infrastructures that require the highest level of uptime, and the cost of an error is too high.

In LTSB versions, all possible bugs, shortcomings, and errors are fixed. Telemetry services are also removed from them. And there are no various interfering and unnecessary pre-installed applications either!

Thus, if you want «Windows» without tracking and the so-called bloatware, you should install the LTSB version.

It’s also worth noting that LTSB is licensed like Enterprise and offers roughly the same set of features. And therefore for home use it is impossible to buy it.