What is the difference between Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro

Windows 10, the upcoming operating system from Microsoft, has many various editions. These include Home, Pro, Enterprise, Mobile, Education, Mobile Enterprise, and IoT Core editions. We have reviewed them in the past. Most home users will probably use Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro. Let's see what is the difference between these editions.
Windows 10 RTM wallpaperAs expected, Windows 10 Home edition has significantly less features. It does not include Group Policy, Remote Desktop and many other useful features which Pro edition offers to the end user.

The lower editions of Windows have always been lacking in features, and with the upcoming release, it's the same case. The worst thing in my opinion is that the Home edition does not come with any option to control updates. The Windows Update for Business feature and Current Branch for Business update branches, are more flexible than the update branch for Windows 10 Home.

See the following table to find all the differences between Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro:

Features Home Pro
Customizable Start Yes Yes
Windows Defender and Windows firewall Yes Yes
Fast startup with Hiberboot and InstantGo Yes Yes
TPM Support Yes Yes
Battery Saver Yes Yes
Windows Update Yes Yes

Cortana

Talk or type naturally Yes Yes
Personal and proactive suggestions Yes Yes
Reminders Yes Yes
Search web, device, and cloud Yes Yes
“Hey Cortana” hands-free activation Yes Yes

Windows Hello

Native fingerprint recognition Yes Yes
Native facial and iris recognition Yes Yes
Enterprise level security Yes Yes

Multi-doing

Virtual desktops Yes Yes
Snap assist (up to four apps on one screen) Yes Yes
Snap apps across screens on different monitors Yes Yes

Continnum

Switch from PC to tablet mode Yes Yes

Microsoft Edge

Reading view Yes Yes
Built-in ink support Yes Yes
Cortana integration Yes Yes

Security

Device Encryption Yes Yes
Microsoft Passport Yes Yes
Enterprise Data Protection No Yes

Windows as a service

Windows Update Yes Yes
Windows Update for business No Yes
Current branch for business No Yes

Management and deployment

Side-loading of line of business apps Yes Yes
Mobile device management Yes Yes
Ability to join Azure directory, win single sign-on to cloud-hosted apps No Yes
Business Store for Windows 10 No Yes
Easy Upgrade from Pro to Enterprise Edition No Yes
Easy Upgrade from Home to Education Edition Yes No

Existing fundamentals

Device Encryption Yes Yes
Domain Join No Yes
BitLocker No Yes
Group Policy No Yes
Enterprise Mode Internet Explorer No Yes
Assigned Access 8.1 No Yes
Remote Desktop No Yes

What do you think about Windows 10 Home? Is it suitable for you or will you use Windows 10 Pro instead?

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

7 thoughts on “What is the difference between Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro”

    1. Good. At this moment, one of my PCs has Win8.1 Pro installed. I will update it to Win10Pro sooner or later.

  1. I’m going to wait until Windows 10 is officially out and you can buy it, either I’ll use my Windows 8.1 home key or buy Pro, haven’t decided yet.

  2. Can somebody tell me if there will be a way to control the behavior of Windows Update in Windows 10 Home? Like for example, editing a value in the registry? According to what I’ve read in several sites (this one’s included, of course), Updates will be delivered automatically in Windows 10 Home.

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