Is Windows Pro Edition Worth It?

Summary

The video script discusses the differences between Windows Pro and Home editions, highlighting features exclusive to Pro such as Group Policy Editor, Windows Sandbox, Hyper-V, and BitLocker. It also explores free alternatives like Sandboxie Plus, VirtualBox, and VeraCrypt, and touches on remote desktop options. The script is sponsored by DeleteMe, a data privacy service.

Takeaways

• 💰 The Windows Pro edition costs an extra $100 over the Home edition and offers additional features beyond BitLocker.
• 🔧 The Group Policy Editor in Pro edition allows for extensive behind-the-scenes customization without altering the registry.
• 🚧 Windows Sandbox provides a temporary, isolated virtual machine for testing suspicious files without affecting the main system.
• 🖥️ Hyper-V feature enables users to create full-blown virtual machines, useful for running different operating systems and applications.
• 🔒 BitLocker offers full drive encryption for enhanced security, with options to save the encryption key to a Microsoft account for safekeeping.
• 🏢 Windows Pro includes business-oriented features such as joining an Active Directory or a company domain for centralized management.
• 🌐 Remote Desktop in Pro edition allows for controlling unattended computers, unlike Home edition which requires the other party to accept the connection.
• 🆓 There are free alternatives to Pro edition features, such as Sandboxie Plus for a more flexible sandbox experience and VirtualBox for comprehensive virtual machine support.
• 🔍 For users concerned with privacy, the video mentions a service called DeleteMe which helps remove personal information from data broker websites.
• 🔄 The Local Users and Groups Management Console in Pro edition provides a graphical interface for managing user accounts, which would otherwise require command prompt commands.
• 🎥 Quick Assist in Home edition offers remote control capabilities but is limited compared to the full Remote Desktop feature in Pro edition.

Q & A

What is the main difference between Windows Pro and Home editions in terms of cost?

Windows Pro edition typically costs an extra $100 over the Home edition.

What feature allows changing numerous settings in Windows without altering the registry?

The Group Policy Editor is a feature exclusive to Windows Pro that allows users to change a vast array of settings behind the scenes without having to modify the registry.

What is Windows Sandbox and how does it benefit users?

Windows Sandbox is a feature that creates a temporary virtual machine, isolating the main Windows installation. It's useful for testing suspicious files or applications without affecting the primary system and can be easily deleted after use.

How does Hyper-V differ from Windows Sandbox?

Hyper-V is a feature exclusive to Windows Pro that allows users to create full-blown virtual machines by installing an operating system from an ISO file. Unlike Windows Sandbox, which is temporary and automatically erased after closing, Hyper-V is more versatile and can run various operating systems like Linux.

What is the main purpose of DeleteMe, the data privacy service mentioned in the script?

DeleteMe is a service that helps users remove their personal information from data broker websites. It monitors and repeatedly removes user data from numerous data brokers to protect privacy.

What is the Local Users and Groups Management Console in Windows Pro?

The Local Users and Groups Management Console is a graphical user interface for managing user accounts in ways that would otherwise require command prompt commands. It's a minor feature but provides an easier way to manage user permissions and policies.

How does BitLocker in Windows Pro contribute to computer security?

BitLocker is a feature that allows users to encrypt their entire OS installation drive and any secondary drives. It provides protection by requiring an encryption key to access the computer, ensuring data security even if the device is lost or stolen.

What is the primary difference between the remote desktop feature in Windows Pro and Quick Assist in Windows Home?

The remote desktop feature in Windows Pro allows users to control an unattended computer, whereas Quick Assist in Windows Home is designed for temporary assistance and requires the presence of the person being helped to accept the connection.

What business-oriented features does Windows Pro offer that are not available in the Home edition?

Windows Pro offers features such as joining an Active Directory or a company domain, and accessing a private catalog of company software on the Microsoft Store, which are primarily aimed at businesses managing multiple computers.

What is a free alternative to Windows Sandbox and how does it work?

A free alternative to Windows Sandbox is Sandboxie Plus, which isolates individual programs within their own sandbox, preventing them from making permanent changes to the computer.

What are some free alternatives to Hyper-V for creating virtual machines?

VirtualBox is a free and open-source alternative to Hyper-V, offering professional features and the ability to perform unattended installations of certain operating systems.

Outlines

00:00

💻 Windows Pro vs Home Edition: Key Differences and Alternatives

This paragraph discusses the main differences between Windows Pro and Home editions, highlighting features exclusive to Pro such as the Group Policy Editor, Windows Sandbox, and Hyper-V. It also mentions the possibility of upgrading to Pro edition through the Microsoft store and introduces free alternatives to Pro features, emphasizing that most of these features have free counterparts. The speaker shares their personal experience with upgrading to Pro edition and the additional differences revealed during the process.

05:04

🔒 Enhanced Security Features in Windows Pro

The second paragraph focuses on the security features of Windows Pro, including BitLocker for drive encryption, and remote desktop capabilities. It contrasts these with the limited options available in the Home edition, such as device encryption and Quick Assist. The speaker also introduces deleteMe, a data privacy service, and shares their positive experience with it. The paragraph concludes with a brief mention of additional business-oriented features exclusive to the Pro edition, like joining an Active Directory or accessing a company's private software catalog.

10:05

🆓 Free Alternatives to Windows Pro Features

This paragraph explores free alternatives to the features exclusive to Windows Pro edition. It starts by discussing Sandboxie Plus as an alternative to Windows Sandbox, which allows individual programs to run in isolated environments. The speaker then moves on to VirtualBox as a free and open-source alternative to Hyper-V for full virtual machine usage. PolicyPlus is introduced as an alternative to the Group Policy Editor, with some limitations. The paragraph also covers free alternatives for BitLocker, such as the Windows Device Encryption and VeraCrypt, and for Remote Desktop, with options like Quick Assist, TeamViewer, and RealVNC. The speaker emphasizes the availability of these free tools for personal use, providing a cost-effective way to access Pro-like features.

Keywords

💡Windows Pro

Windows Pro refers to a professional edition of the Windows operating system, which includes advanced features not available in the Home edition. In the video, the discussion highlights the extra functionalities that Windows Pro offers over Windows Home, such as Group Policy Editor, Windows Sandbox, and Hyper-V. These features are primarily geared towards business users or those who need enhanced security and management capabilities.

💡BitLocker

BitLocker is a security feature available in Windows Pro that allows users to encrypt the operating system installation drive and other secondary drives. The video explains that BitLocker provides robust encryption options to protect data, with the possibility of saving the encryption key in a user's Microsoft account for convenience. This feature is significant for users concerned with data security and is a selling point of the Pro edition over the Home edition.

💡Group Policy Editor

The Group Policy Editor is a feature exclusive to Windows Pro that enables advanced users to modify a vast array of system settings without directly editing the system registry. It is particularly useful for businesses to configure settings uniformly across multiple computers. The video describes it as offering many settings, although not all may be useful to the average user, underscoring its relevance primarily in enterprise environments.

💡Windows Sandbox

Windows Sandbox is a feature in Windows Pro that allows the creation of a temporary virtual environment to test suspicious files or software without affecting the main system. The video highlights its ease of use compared to setting up a full virtual machine and its utility in safely running potentially unsafe applications, illustrating its practicality for everyday users who need to test software in a secure manner.

💡Hyper-V

Hyper-V is a virtualization technology included in Windows Pro that lets users create and run virtual machines, each with its own operating system. In the video, Hyper-V is depicted as more versatile and complex than Windows Sandbox, suitable for users who need to run multiple operating systems for testing or development purposes.

💡Remote Desktop

Remote Desktop is a feature that enables a user to control another computer remotely. The video clarifies that while the Home edition can use Remote Desktop to connect to another machine, only the Pro edition can host a connection. This functionality is essential for accessing computers without direct user intervention, particularly useful in professional or administrative settings.

💡free alternatives

The video discusses free alternatives to several Windows Pro features, such as Sandboxie Plus for Windows Sandbox, VirtualBox for Hyper-V, and PolicyPlus for Group Policy Editor. These alternatives provide similar functionalities without the need to upgrade to Pro, offering cost-effective solutions for users who do not require the full suite of Pro features.

💡DeleteMe

DeleteMe is a privacy service sponsored in the video that helps users remove their personal information from data broker sites. The video illustrates its functionality and benefits, including ongoing monitoring and removal of personal data from newly emerging data brokers, highlighting its relevance in a discussion centered around security and privacy.

💡encryption

Encryption is a recurrent theme in the video, particularly discussed in the context of BitLocker and VeraCrypt. Encryption involves converting data into a coded form to prevent unauthorized access. The video explains how BitLocker provides on-the-fly encryption for Windows Pro users, ensuring data security without impacting system performance.

💡VirtualBox

VirtualBox is introduced in the video as a free and open-source alternative to Hyper-V, allowing users to set up and run virtual machines. Owned by Oracle, VirtualBox supports a variety of operating systems and offers professional features, making it accessible for both casual users and professionals who need virtualization technology without the cost of Windows Pro.

Highlights

The main differences between Windows Pro and Home editions are discussed, with Pro offering additional features for an extra cost.

BitLocker is often cited as the primary difference, but there are several other exclusive features in Windows Pro.

Group Policy Editor allows for extensive behind-the-scenes customization of Windows settings, primarily useful for businesses.

Windows Sandbox provides a temporary, isolated virtual machine environment for testing suspicious files safely.

Hyper-V is exclusive to Windows Pro, enabling users to create full-fledged virtual machines for a variety of uses.

DeleteMe is a data privacy service that helps remove personal information from data broker websites, offering an additional layer of security.

Local Users and Groups Management Console is a feature that simplifies user account management through a GUI.

BitLocker offers full drive encryption, with options to save encryption keys to a Microsoft account for safekeeping.

Remote Desktop in Windows Pro allows for unattended access to other computers, a feature limited to Pro edition.

There are free alternatives to many Pro features, such as Sandboxie Plus for a more flexible sandbox environment.

VirtualBox is a free and open-source alternative to Hyper-V, offering professional features for virtual machine creation.

PolicyPlus is a program that replicates the functionality of the Group Policy Editor across all Windows editions.

VeraCrypt is a free, open-source encryption tool that offers advanced features beyond basic drive encryption.

Quick Assist is built into Windows and allows for remote assistance, though it's not designed for continuous use.

TeamViewer and RealVNC offer free personal use remote desktop solutions, providing similar functionality to Windows Pro's Remote Desktop.

The video discusses whether the additional cost of Windows Pro is justified, considering the availability of free alternatives to its exclusive features.

Transcripts

Windows Pro edition, whether you have Windows  10 or 11, you might be wondering if it's worth  

the extra $100 over Home edition. If you look on  Microsoft's website, it makes it look like the  

difference is BitLocker and that's it, but  there's quite a few more features that are  

exclusive to Pro. So what I'll do is first go over  all the main differences between Pro and Home.

And then at the end, I'll also go over some  free alternatives to a lot of these features  

because pretty much all of them do have a free  alternative. So maybe you don't need to spend  

all that money. And if you didn't know, you can  actually upgrade to Pro right from the Microsoft  

store. And interestingly here, it does show quite  a few more differences, but still not all of them.

First up, we have the Group Policy Editor,  which basically lets you change a massive  

amount of settings behind the scenes in Windows  without having to go into the registry to change  

anything. I could go on all day about  the hundreds of settings in here. There's  

just too many to talk about. Most of them are  actually not that useful to the average person.

A lot of them have to do with features that  are enabled and disabled in Windows and user  

permissions, because it's mostly meant  for businesses to easily set up computers  

for a company all in the same way. And you  can just apply a group policy. That's why  

it's called that. But still it covers so much  different stuff that at one point or another,  

you'll probably find something  you can find it useful for.

Next up we have Windows Sandbox, which  is actually really cool. And it basically  

is a temporary virtual machine that you  pop up and then you can do whatever you  

want in it. And it's a regular looking Windows  installation. And then when you close the window,  

it's all gone and nothing you  did in there makes a difference.

And more importantly, the main idea is it's  isolated from your main Windows installation.  

So it's good for checking out maybe suspicious  files. You're a little bit on the fence,  

whether you think you want to trust it, or maybe  you just want to make sure that the program does  

what it says it does, instead of having to install  it and then uninstall it and making a mess.

Of course, if you are genuinely suspicious  about a program, it's best to just not run  

it at all. The sandbox is also a lot easier to  use than setting up a whole virtual machine,  

for example, using another feature that  I'll talk about in a second. You literally  

just run the Windows Sandbox, it  pops up, it's all ready to go.

And then when you close it, it's ready for  the next one. It just erases everything for  

next time. Now speaking of virtual machines, the  next feature exclusive to Windows Pro is Hyper-V,  

which lets you make full-blown virtual  machines. You basically will download  

a ISO installer, just like you  would for a regular computer.

And then you can install an operating  system onto the virtual machine. So it's  

definitely not as plug and play as the  Windows sandbox. Although I will point  

out that Microsoft does actually  host virtual machine disks that are  

pre-made for developers. So you can actually  download that, but that's like 30 gigabytes.

Maybe you don't want to have to worry about  downloading huge files. But of course a virtual  

machine is a lot more versatile and can do a  lot more than just being used as a sandbox.  

You can run any kind of operating system like  Linux. Maybe you want to just try out Linux,  

or maybe you want to use some programs that  are exclusive to another operating system.

Or in my case, even though I'm running Windows  11, maybe I want to show something in Windows  

10 or a lower edition of Windows. So I have  multiple virtual machines that I can load  

into and see. And Hyper-V does have a lot of  advanced options for configuring the virtual  

devices and stuff like that. So you really  can do whatever you want, but if you're not  

what you might consider an advanced user, then you  might have some trouble figuring everything out.

All right, now if you've watched me for a while,  

you know that I'm really obsessed with  computer security and privacy and all that,  

which is where today's sponsor comes in,  deleteMe. It's a data privacy service, which  

I myself have been a paying customer to for over  two years now, long before they ever sponsored.

If you've ever Googled yourself, you definitely  have seen the countless so-called data broker  

websites who not only collect and display  all your personal information, like name,  

address, and phone number, but  they even sell it to companies  

to do whatever they want with it.  But that's where DeleteMe comes in.

They do all the hard work, and their experts  will submit removal requests on your behalf.  

And new data brokers pop up all the time,  so DeleteMe is constantly adding new ones,  

and continue to monitor them and repeat  removals if your info shows up on a site again,  

which can happen a lot. At the moment,  they automatically scan and remove from  

67 different data brokers, and you'll get  a privacy report for which sites you were  

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So you can see exactly which sites are  clean with your info and which ones have  

removals in progress still. But that's  not all, because you can also submit  

custom requests where a specialist will go and  request removal from hundreds of other sites,  

even surprising ones like  Berkeley.edu, for example.

It's not even a data broker, but DeleteMe  will still help you get removed from it  

if you're on there for some reason. So if  you want to get your personal information  

removed from the web in search results, go to  JoinDeleteMe.com/ThioJoe, and use the promo  

code ThioJoe for a nice discount. And I'll  put that link in the description as well.

And with all that being said, let's  continue. Okay, next up we have the Local  

Users and Groups Management Console. This  is a really minor one, but I figured I'd  

mention it anyway. It basically is just  a GUI for managing user accounts in a  

few ways that would otherwise require using  the command prompt commands. Like enabling  

and disabling user accounts, changing  a password policy, that kind of thing.

Up next we have BitLocker, which you may  have heard of before. It allows you to  

encrypt the entire OS installation drive and  any other secondary drives of your computer,  

so everything if you want. You  basically set up an encryption  

key that you want to make sure  that you store and don't lose,  

because without it you literally won't be able  to access your computer if you have to use it.

Or you also have the option to save it  to your Microsoft account, which for  

most people is probably what you want to do. The  encryption and decryption is all done on the fly,  

so theoretically it should have no noticeable  impact on performance. And there's also a feature  

called BitLocker to Go, which lets you encrypt  an external drive and then it can be used on any  

other Windows machine, as long as it's relatively  recent enough to be able to use BitLocker.

I will point out though that there is a  separate feature called device encryption,  

which is available to home users. It just  has a lot less options. Basically from my  

understanding is it simply only lets you  encrypt all or nothing, not like BitLocker  

where you can choose the OS drive and then  however many secondary drives, if any.

The next feature is remote desktop, which  lets you remotely control an unattended  

computer. And unattended is a key word there.  Home Edition users can still act as a client  

for a remote desktop connection, meaning  they can be the one accessing the remote  

machine, but the one being the server  basically, being accessed must be pro.

And the reason I emphasized remote desktop  can be for unattended computers is because  

Home Edition Windows actually does have a  really cool feature called Quick Assist,  

where you can remotely control another  device, like to help someone out,  

but they need to be there to accept the  connection. And you also have to enter a  

code, so it's not like you can use that to just  remotely connect to a computer whenever you want.

I believe Quick Assist should be pre-installed,  but you can also get it from the Microsoft store  

if necessary. And the final ones before we get  to the free alternatives are mostly having to  

do with business stuff. So most people  are not going to be interested in this,  

but for example, you can join an  Active Directory or a company domain.

So these are going to be for computers that  are managed by a company. As well as you're  

able to access a private catalog of your  company's software on the Microsoft Store  

if they have one. So a few business oriented  features there. All right. Now like I said,  

there's actually free alternatives  to basically all of these features.

So you don't necessarily have to get pro if  you don't want to have the native feature  

version. First, a free alternative to Windows  Sandbox is a program called Sandboxie Plus.  

And it's really cool because unlike a full  virtual machine or even Windows Sandbox,  

the idea is you run individual programs  isolated within their own sandbox.

So basically you right click a program and  hit run sandboxed, and then it isolates it  

into a sandbox and prevents it from making  permanent changes to your computer. And you  

could tell it's sandboxed by a yellow border  when you move your cursor near the top. So say  

you run your browser sandboxed like here with  Chrome and you download a picture somewhere.

To Chrome, it'll show up there, but it won't  actually show up there to anything else outside  

the sandbox. But Chrome still thinks it was  saved there. And even if you open the photo,  

the photo viewer will pop up also in the sandbox,  separate from the system still. And if you hit  

to show the folder through Chrome, it opens up  Explore in a sandbox and still shows it there,  

even though running Explore outside  the sandbox, it doesn't show up.

So there's a bunch of features and this  makes it really useful in addition to  

Windows Sandbox actually, because it can  do cool stuff like even forcing certain  

programs to always open in a sandbox if  you want it to be secure. And I could  

probably make a whole video about the  uses for this program, but pretty cool,

just check it out. Now, if you do want to use a  full blown virtual machine, a free alternative to  

Hyper-V is VirtualBox, which is free and open  source, and it's actually owned by Oracle. So  

there's a big company behind it and it has  a lot of professional features. And one cool  

feature is you can actually select an ISO and do  a unattended install of certain operating systems.

Like with this one for Windows 10, you just set  a few initial settings and then it will go do the  

whole thing automatically. So for most people,  this will definitely be more than enough. Next,  

as an alternative to Group Policy Editor,  there's actually a program called PolicyPlus.  

I made a whole separate video about it,  so I'd recommend really watching that.

But basically it has a very similar  interface to Group Policy Editor,  

but you can run it on any edition  of Windows. Keep in mind, even  

though I believe it will show all the same  policy options as the Group Policy Editor,  

there are quite a few where even if you change  and enable it or disable it, it won't actually  

activate behind the scenes because whatever  that feature is truly requires the Pro edition.

So just be aware of that. To get some of  the stuff, you really do actually need  

to have Pro. As an alternative to BitLocker,  like I mentioned, there's the Windows Device  

Encryption feature, which should be in the  settings and you can search encryption and  

it should come up. For me, it just goes to  BitLocker because I do have Pro or higher.

But if you just want to simply encrypt your  whole device, then this is probably the way  

to go. Though if you're looking for something  more advanced, there's also another free open  

source program called VeraCrypt, which not only  will let you encrypt an entire computer or drive,  

but also create encrypted containers that  you simply store on the computer like a file  

and it's encrypted until you decrypt  it, in one of whatever ways you set.

There's a lot of advanced stuff here, so not  exactly user-friendly if you're not familiar  

with that kind of stuff, but good to know about.  Finally, as an alternative to Remote Desktop,  

there's a lot of options actually.  The first one, like I mentioned is  

Quick Assist. It's built into Windows and  basically it's good for helping friends.

The person doing the connecting just has  to sign into a Microsoft account and then  

you type in a code and you can access that  person's computer. It's just not built for  

continuous connections. So once you close  it out, that's it. It's not like you can  

keep reconnecting to someone. Unless they initiate  the connection separately every time with a code.

Though of course, if you do want  something closer to Remote Desktop,  

there's several options out there. So one  of them is TeamViewer, which is free for  

personal use and you'll pretty much get a  lot of the features in there. And there's  

another technology called VNC. So there  are several of these that are VNC programs,  

but probably the main one that I would recommend  that seems the most polished is called RealVNC.

And it's a paid app, but they do have a free  lite version. It's called VNC Connect Lite,  

and I'm pretty sure that does all the  basics that you would probably need to  

do anyway. That's free for personal use.  So that's one to check out. Basically what  

you do is you host a VNC server on  the computer you want to connect to,  

and then you'll use the VNC client  to connect from another computer.

And then you can remote in, see the  screen, that sort of thing. So I  

think those are the most significant  differences for the average person.  

Let me know what you think down in the  comments. Do you think it's worth it to get  

Windows Pro just for those native features,  or are you fine using open source stuff?

And thanks again to DeleteMe for sponsoring this  video. Again, if you want to get your personal  

information removed from data brokers, go  to JoinDeleteMe.com/ThioJoe and use the  

promo code ThioJoe for a nice discount. If you  want to keep watching, the next video I'll put  

right here is that one that I talked about for  PolicyPlus, the Group Policy Editor alternative.

If you want to see a lot more details  about that, you can just click on  

that right there. So thanks so much for  watching and I'll see you in the next one.