“Windows 11 Home vs. “Pro” Which version is better for individual users?

If you need Windows 11 to be installed on your PC, your options are: Windows 11 Homeclass Windows 11 Professionalthere are two things.

Of the two, the Pro version offers a variety of additional features and is naturally more expensive. The most attractive features are Bitlocker drive encryption for data protection and a sandbox for testing software, but many other features have been added.

But if you plan to use it on a typical home PC, is it worth paying the higher price for these extra features? Let’s learn about what to consider when choosing.

Windows 11 Pro and Bitlocker encryption

Bitlocker drive encryption is the main reason to buy Windows 11 Professional. Bitlocker is a full disk encryption feature that protects your files from unauthorized access. Even if your PC is stolen or lost, you won’t be able to access your protected files unless you log in as yourself. It is an essential modern security feature.

Both Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Professional have some disk encryption features, but Microsoft’s Bitlocker encryption is much stronger, more flexible, and more configurable in Windows 11 Pro.

For Windows 11 Home PC, only “Device Encryption” is available. When you sign in to a Windows PC with a Microsoft account, Windows 11 Home automatically enables Bitlocker encryption and saves the recovery key to your Microsoft account.

Whether device encryption is enabled on my PC Settings > Privacy & Security > Device EncryptionYou can check it here. If you don’t see this option, the feature isn’t supported on your PC. New Windows 11 PCs will likely support this feature, but older PCs upgraded from Windows 10 may not.

In most cases, device encryption is sufficient, but there are limitations. For example, you must sign in with a Microsoft account, your recovery key must be saved to your online Microsoft account, and it cannot be used to encrypt external drives. This last limitation is significant.

To utilize all Bitlocker features, you need Windows 11 Professional. You have even more options to configure BitLocker the way you want, and you can even use BitLocker To Go to encrypt files on removable USB drives, SD cards, and other external storage devices.

Other limitations of Windows 11 Home

Other than BitLocker, there is nothing majorly disappointing about Windows 11 Home. As the pro license is ultimately a license with businesses in mind, most of the restricted functions are suitable for business use.

For example, a Windows 11 Home PC can participate in a domain or Azure Active Directory environment. They also don’t have access to the Microsoft Store’s Private Catalog feature, which allows businesses to distribute their own apps to their own PCs. These features are intended for company-managed computers, so you won’t need them on your home PC.

Chris Hoffman / IDG

Additionally, a Windows 11 Home PC cannot be set up as a remote desktop server. In other words, you cannot connect to a Windows 11 Home PC through Remote Desktop, but you can use Remote Desktop to connect to a Windows 11 Pro PC from a Windows 1 Home PC. (If you absolutely need to connect to your home PC via remote desktop, you can use a third-party remote desktop tool.)

Microsoft Hyper-V software for creating virtual machines is also not available in Windows 11 Home. This can also be solved by using other virtual machine apps, such as VMware or VirtualBox, which are now free.

Additionally, the home version lacks access to the Local Group Policy Editor, which is often used in businesses to centrally configure PCs. The Local Group Policy Editor is handy for tweaking some system settings without directly modifying the registry, but is it worth paying more for the Pro license? Not really.

Exclusive Sandbox in Windows 11 Pro

In addition to the more full-featured and configurable BitLocker encryption experience and enterprise-oriented features that Windows 11 Home lacks, Windows 11 Pro offers another significant feature: Sandbox. Although sandboxes are technically a niche feature, they are very useful.

Windows Sandbox uses Hyper-V software to provide a new, isolated Windows system that runs in a separate “sandbox” window each time it runs. This isolation provides a means to test for potentially rogue software or malware without modifying or affecting the actual operating system.

Additionally, when you close the sandbox, all data within it is destroyed. Even if the sandbox environment is infected with malware, it is safe because it is isolated and is removed as soon as it is closed. Just restart the sandbox and you’ll have a fresh, uninfected Windows system.

Sandbox is one of the very useful features of Windows from a security perspective. It is especially effective when used with a reputable VPN. Frankly, this feature is so good that it alone is worth upgrading to Windows 11 Pro if you can find a use for it on a daily basis.

Windows 11 Home vs Pro: Pricing

If you need a Windows 11 license for your PC, you can purchase Windows 11 Home for $139 and Windows 11 Pro for $199 from Microsoft. However, there is also a cheaper way to purchase a Windows 11 license.

Windows 11 Home PCs can be upgraded to Windows 11 Pro at any time for $99. Settings > System > Product ActivationGo to and expand “Upgrade your edition of Windows” Open Store Just click the button to get started.

Chris Hoffman / IDG

If you purchase a Windows 11 laptop or desktop PC with Windows 11 pre-installed, most will include a Windows 11 Home license, but sometimes a Windows 11 Professional license will be included. (Typically high-end PCs sold for business use.) Some PC manufacturers also let you choose Windows 11 Pro for an additional fee when you shop and customize your new PC.

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Ultimately, the value of Windows 11 Pro lies in two things: the full-featured Bitlocker environment and Windows Sandbox.

Unless you plan to use your Microsoft account to log in to your PC, we recommend choosing Windows 11 Pro so you can securely encrypt your PC’s storage drives. Sandbox is another good reason to increase the appeal of Windows 11 Pro. Even based on retail price, you only have to pay $60 more than Home.

Of course, business users will also find Windows 11 Pro’s business-oriented features, such as Domain, Azure Active Directory, or the Local Group Policy Editor for centrally managing PCs, useful. These features are only available through the more expensive Windows 11 Professional license.

Otherwise, Windows 11 Home will suffice for most home PC users, especially if you log in to Windows with a Microsoft account. In this case, the device encryption function provided is as good as the entire Bitlocker for general Windows users.
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