# Should I buy Windows 10 Home or Pro?



## denixius (Feb 10, 2017)

Greetings,

I've created some threads about building gaming PC nowadays. And here is another one. 

I'm using Windows 7 for now but I want to upgrade my operating system to Windows 10. I'm not sure what choice is good for me. Should I buy Windows 10 or Pro?

I'm a gamer and I tried to build good gaming PC (as much as I can afford): Intel Core i7 4790 Socket 1150 3.6GHz 8MB, GIGABYTE Z97M-D3H Intel Z97 Soket 1150 DDR3 3100MHz(O.C) Motherboard, GTX 1070 GAMING X 8G Graphic Card, 8 GB RAM (I will add 8 GB more soon). 

If I buy Windows 10 Home Edition, is that obstacle my PC's performance while playing games? I don't want to buy Pro Edition. Because it's more expensive than Home Edition, and also I read something about it. It's for     small business. Pro is provides in addition to all the features in Home Edition; Domain Join services, BitLocker drive encryption, Remote control services, Group Policy editor and Windows Update for Business.

Actually I'm not interested with there fetures.  So what you think?

Bests,


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## NdMk2o1o (Feb 10, 2017)

Download Windows 10 home, and use your Windows 7 key to activate it


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## Liviu Cojocaru (Feb 10, 2017)

Hi there, I think you'll be allright using Windows 10 Home you won't notice any differences in games, Pro has some features that are important for companies.


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## jboydgolfer (Feb 10, 2017)

^ yup+1
dont buy a win10 key, unless you dont have a 7or 8 key....or. isnt win10 free still as long as you are using the insider builds?

although im not a fan of Cnet. they have a quote from M$ that answeres my above question about insider program windows for free.as long as your okay with a "prerelease version" you get win10 for free.

*And it's those preview builds that Windows Insiders will freely receive on a regular basis. Each preview build expires at a certain point, but Microsoft promises that it will be replaced by the next build. So in essence, those who wish to remain in the Windows Insider Program can get Windows 10 for free, but the version you run will always be a prerelease build, in other words a non-activated beta product.*


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## denixius (Feb 10, 2017)

NdMk2o1o said:


> Download Windows 10 home, and use your Windows 7 key to activate it





Liviu Cojocaru said:


> Hi there, I think you'll be allright using Windows 10 Home you won't notice any differences in games, Pro has some features that are important for companies.





jboydgolfer said:


> ^ yup+1
> dont buy a win10 key, unless you dont have a 7or 8 key....or. isnt win10 free still as long as you are using the insider builds?
> 
> although im not a fan of Cnet. they have a quote from M$ that answeres my above question about insider program windows for free.as long as your okay with a "prerelease version" you get win10 for free.
> ...



Actually there is something I forgot to write. I was bought Windows 7 in an online store and I used the key for 3 months. I guess it was trial version of Windows 7.  So after 3 months it's turned to "Windows build 7601 (or something else) not genuine." I call Microsoft and they said that the version which I've used was trial. They said I must buy an activate key. But I can't buy it, because I can't afford it. Then I forgot to buy afterwards. Now I want to buy a new operating system. Because of this I can't use previous key because it's only trial.


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## Liviu Cojocaru (Feb 10, 2017)

You should search online to see if you can still upgrade your windows for free if your win 7 was genuine. If not you can try and use something like dlcompare.com and get a cheaper key, I bought one like that and I have it for almost 2 years now...no issues. Also if you have a decent CPU cooler go for some OC on your CPU


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## denixius (Feb 10, 2017)

Liviu Cojocaru said:


> You should search online to see if you can still upgrade your windows for free if your win 7 was genuine. If not you can try and use something like dlcompare.com and get a cheaper key, I bought one like that and I have it for almost 2 years now...no issues. Also if you have a decent CPU cooler go for some OC on your CPU



I can't find anything. lol There isn't Windows. I will check internet. Thanks!


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## jboydgolfer (Feb 10, 2017)

wolfaust said:


> I can't find anything. lol There isn't Windows. I will check internet. Thanks!




If you can't afford the retail cost of the operating system look in to becoming a windows insider.

 You download the iso file with the media creation tool and installs no differently than retail version all you have to do is select either fast or slow releases ,and Your set with the free operating system. It's just not the retail version, so in the bottom right corner of your desk top it will always say pre-release version but who the hell cares it's free


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## denixius (Feb 10, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> If you can't afford the retail cost of the operating system look in to becoming a windows insider.
> 
> You download the iso file with the media creation tool and installs no differently than retail version all you have to do is select either fast or slow releases ,and Your set with the free operating system. It's just not the retail version, so in the bottom right corner of your desk top it will always say pre-release version but who the hell cares it's free



Hah! Yes, I've downloaded it before but I can't even activate that because of "Windows Build" thing. Because I'm using the PC with "Windows Build 7xxx bla bla..." It was staying on the background bottom right corner. But I guess I will buy Windows 10 Home Edition if there isn't any obstacle. But now I'm thinking your first comment; "dont buy a win10 key, unless you dont have a 7or 8 key" Why?


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## NdMk2o1o (Feb 10, 2017)

If you use any of the accessibility features in windows you can still get 10 for free....

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/accessibility/windows10upgrade


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## rtwjunkie (Feb 11, 2017)

So, as others said, you'll be fine with W10 Home.  What you heard about pro being more for business IS true, with the added features, but it operates just as well in gaming, so don't let that deter you.

For me, the primary advantage of w10 Pro is being able to defer major version upgrades for about 6 months.  I did that with Anniversary Edition until they could work out the bugs that shouldn't have been there on a release version to begin with.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Feb 11, 2017)

I bought a win 10 pro oem key for £25, changed my motherboard and cpu, and reinstalled windows, and it activated automatically. So I would say why not buy pro?

From here-
https://softwaregeeks.co.uk/product/windows-10-pro/

Was near enough instant delivery of key by email, and it activated on my original install, and on a clean install with changed hardware. Can't say fairer than that for £25


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## fusionblu (Feb 12, 2017)

Not sure if the exploit still exists but you might be able to upgrade to MS Windows 10 Pro from your current Windows 7 Pro OS if you seek to upgrade to the accessibility webpage on their website.
From what I can tell the exploit is legal (no warez at all, just a loop hole MS may have left open and others have made news of it already).

Article I last saw for this is: http://www.techradar.com/how-to/sof...how-to-upgrade-to-windows-10-for-free-1325764
Main MS link for upgrade: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/windows10upgrade

I don't have reason to suspect this is malicious or anything along those lines.


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## qubit (Feb 12, 2017)

NdMk2o1o said:


> If you use any of the accessibility features in windows you can still get 10 for free....
> 
> https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/accessibility/windows10upgrade


Damn you, beat me to it.


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## denixius (Feb 13, 2017)

tigger said:


> I bought a win 10 pro oem key for £25, changed my motherboard and cpu, and reinstalled windows, and it activated automatically. So I would say why not buy pro?
> 
> From here-
> https://softwaregeeks.co.uk/product/windows-10-pro/
> ...



This online store looks cheap. You don't want to know how much OEM keys or other software prices are in my country. lol


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## rtwjunkie (Feb 13, 2017)

wolfaust said:


> This online store looks cheap. You don't want to know how much OEM keys or other software prices are in my country. lol



Surely though, the OEM prices there are cheaper than retail price?


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## P4-630 (Feb 13, 2017)

For a home user/gamer I see no use in buying Pro instead of the Home version, unless you could find it at the same price at some legit website which is unlikely though.

I did use a cracked version of windows Vista Ultimate in the past when I was living in Thailand though.
With Vista Ultimate you had windows dreamscene which I found awesome!

Windows 10 Pro doesn't offer such so I wouldn't buy the Pro version if it's more expensive.


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## denixius (Feb 13, 2017)

rtwjunkie said:


> Surely though, the OEM prices there are cheaper than retail price?



Yes. %18 more expensive because of tax in Turkey. 



P4-630 said:


> For a home user/gamer I see no use in buying Pro instead of the Home version, unless you could find it at the same price at some legit website which is unlikely though.
> 
> I did use a cracked version of windows Vista Ultimate in the past when I was living in Thailand though.
> With Vista Ultimate you had windows dreamscene which I found awesome!
> ...



I'm happy with Windows 10 Home Edition now and there isn't any problem.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Feb 13, 2017)

wolfaust said:


> This online store looks cheap. You don't want to know how much OEM keys or other software prices are in my country. lol



Might look cheap, but my oem key activated fine, then again after a changed motherboard. The key is linked to my microsoft account. So even if they do look cheap, the keys are real, and windows 10 pro for £25 is a good deal


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## denixius (Feb 13, 2017)

tigger said:


> Might look cheap, but my oem key activated fine, then again after a changed motherboard. The key is linked to my microsoft account. So even if they do look cheap, the keys are real, and windows 10 pro for £25 is a good deal



No, no. Please don't get me wrong. I meant that the cheap is good.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Feb 13, 2017)

wolfaust said:


> No, no. Please don't get me wrong. I meant that the cheap is good.



Oh ok, sorry.  I wanted genuine windows, as I was using a hookey version, and this is very cheap for pro, and activates fine. Bargain.


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## bug (Feb 13, 2017)

First thing first: if you have to ask, you don't need Pro.
Second, if you can't buy a retail license, get a OEM one. Sometimes you have to buy a HDD or smth like that to qualify for a OEM license, but you can just resell the part. OEM licenses are tied to one machine, so if you upgrade, you'll need a different one. It's safe to upgrade RAM, storage, GPU, but when you change CPUs and/or motherboards, you need a new license. There's no other way to get a legit license for Windows.


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## denixius (Feb 13, 2017)

bug said:


> First thing first: if you have to ask, you don't need Pro.
> Second, if you can't buy a retail license, get a OEM one. Sometimes you have to buy a HDD or smth like that to qualify for a OEM license, but you can just resell the part. OEM licenses are tied to one machine, so if you upgrade, you'll need a different one. It's safe to upgrade RAM, storage, GPU, but when you change CPUs and/or motherboards, you need a new license. There's no other way to get a legit license for Windows.



Too specific. I don't need an OEM. Thanks.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Feb 13, 2017)

bug said:


> First thing first: if you have to ask, you don't need Pro.
> Second, if you can't buy a retail license, get a OEM one. Sometimes you have to buy a HDD or smth like that to qualify for a OEM license, but you can just resell the part. OEM licenses are tied to one machine, so if you upgrade, you'll need a different one. It's safe to upgrade RAM, storage, GPU, but when you change CPUs and/or motherboards, you need a new license. There's no other way to get a legit license for Windows.



I changed my motherboard and cpu, and it auto activated.


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## bug (Feb 13, 2017)

tigger said:


> I changed my motherboard and cpu, and it auto activated.


Weird. But good for you. You sure it's a OEM license?


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## FordGT90Concept (Feb 13, 2017)

Can't believe no one posted this yet:
Compare Windows 10 editions: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compare

You can install Home or Pro then enter the key later once you make up your mind which to go with.

Performance isn't different between the editions, just features.  If you connect to other computers using Remote Desktop, for example, you're going to want Pro.


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## Jetster (Feb 13, 2017)

bug said:


> Sometimes you have to buy a HDD or smth like that to qualify for a OEM license, but you can just resell the part. OEM licenses are tied to one machine, s



Not anymore, that's not in the EULA anymore. The license ties itself to the motherboard whenever its installed and the license is activated


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## jboydgolfer (May 8, 2017)

Is there even a price difference?  If so just get whichever ones cheaper , unless the more expensive one has something that you desperately need


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## Cvrk (May 9, 2017)

Pro.

I have Home at work. Turns out looking at all these "smart" bloggers who build lists explaining stuff to us, like the many differences between home vs pro, it turns out....there is no difference.

Ohhh! W8. Until you need to edit the core features ,and then googling , turns out Home has many limitations. 

Don't look at it as Pro...as in Professional . I think it's a mistake. Just look at it as a full product. 
So the question is, do you want the entire Windows, or just 70% of it ?


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## P4-630 (May 9, 2017)

Cvrk said:


> Pro.



And the reason is?

Only reason I would buy Pro is if the price is the same as Home version.

What's the benefit of having Pro vs Home for a home gaming user?


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## phanbuey (May 9, 2017)

gaming user not a whole lot; but if you ever work from home i woiuld get pro


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## trparky (May 20, 2017)

If you plug in a Windows 7 license key it will activate, even now it still will do it. I figure Microsoft hasn't closed the loophole because Windows 10 adoption hasn't been exactly good as of late.


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## FordGT90Concept (May 20, 2017)

Microsoft only wants to support Windows 10 going forward so they want to migrate as many systems to it as possible so they can reasonably cut off support for older operating systems (which they already largely did).


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## trparky (May 20, 2017)

FordGT90Concept said:


> Microsoft only wants to support Windows 10 going forward so they want to migrate as many systems to it as possible so they can reasonably cut off support for older operating systems (which they already largely did).


That too. They _*really*_ want to put the older versions of Windows to bed already. And really who can blame them? Having to maintain three code bases has got to be a real pain in the ass. Backporting patches has also got to be a royal pain as well.


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## jboydgolfer (May 20, 2017)

trparky said:


> I figure Microsoft hasn't closed the loophole



 Microsoft support actually encourages users to apply their windows 7 keys to windows 10 activation, I'm assuming for the reason that @FordGT90Concept mentioned.  At least they were as of the last time I had an experience with support about a month or so ago


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## FordGT90Concept (May 21, 2017)

Creator's Update ISO still accepts Win 7, Win 8, and Win 8.1 keys.  I think it will also activate without the key so long as the hardware profile was previously registered with Microsoft (e.g. Windows 7 -> Windows 10 without key).  From what I've seen, Windows 10 is the most relaxed version of Windows in terms of clean installs on old hardware.


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## jboydgolfer (May 21, 2017)

Yeah it's pretty much hard to find an excuse not to upgrade or install windows 10 , at least not for license related issues. 

 The only thing I don't like is the way cortana talks to you when you do the install process,it's creepy in my opinion.


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## FordGT90Concept (May 21, 2017)

I never have my KVM audio set to the computer port so I don't hear it. XD


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## trparky (May 21, 2017)

There are the tinfoil hat wearing nut jobs that believe that Windows 10 is spying on everything that you do. But I tend to dismiss their ideas because they're just crazy. Their tinfoil hats are cutting off proper blood flow to the brain.


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## FordGT90Concept (May 21, 2017)

They might be in the same way that Google and Apple might be too.  The thing is, these are public companies and if they compromise the trust of their users, customers will flea faster than seeing an approaching swarm of locust.  Because they know that consumers are fickle, they have an incentive to not collect much because collecting data because their responsibility.  What they collect, they know they have to protect.  Ain't capitalism great (at least in this regard)?


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