Home and Office Use:  

This is the best version for home use, unless you want to use your PC with your entertainment center, then the Media Center version would be more applicable. This OS has good basic abilities such as the capacity to play DVDs, create playlists, play games, organize photos, run multiple programs and it is backwards compatible.

This OS does not offer as many administration tools as XP Pro. It can run typical office programs but doesn’t have the level of security that administrators might want like roaming user profiles, group policy settings and more.

Windows XP is light enough to run well on laptops too. Windows XP Home has a good set of laptop features, like battery saving elements, standby and hibernation and it has the ability to automatically connect to a wireless Internet connection.

Multimedia:  

XP Home can do basic things like play Internet radio, rotate images, organize videos and sync to portable devices. However, it can not do as much as the Media Center version without additional software.

Security:  

For home use, the security is adequate, it has a firewall, pop–up blockers and antisypware and antivirus protection. It also supports the ability for the user to set the level of security they want. It would be nice if it had parental controls like Vista, but you can purchase a parental control program, like KidsWatch Time Control, separately.

Networking:  

Computers with XP Home can be networked into a simple network. So if you have several home computers and a laptop you can easily network them. But if you want to network computers for business use, XP Pro offers more networking tools and security.

Ease of Use:  

This is one of the easiest Windows OSs to use; however, Vista is even easier for inexperienced users. But, in contrast to Vista, XP is reasonably priced, can run on entry level computers and doesn’t require a lot of expertise to install.

Technical Help/Support:  

Since this OS is widely available and has been out for a while, Microsoft has numerous help topics posted for this program on their homepage. Subscribers can contact Microsoft by telephone, email or chat or search the knowledgebase. However, some services are fee–based.

XP Home is a good OS for home use on a basic computer. When upgrading select Vista Home Basic or Vista Home Premium if you want the media center.

To read more about home PCs installed with the Windows XP Home operating system, see our Home PCs Reviews.