Microsoft
The Professional (Pro) edition of Windows 11 offers a variety of features that aren’t included in the Home version. If you’re already running Windows 10 Pro, then you don’t have to worry about anything — you’ll automatically get Windows 11 Pro. But is the $99 upgrade worth it for anyone else?
What Does the Professional Version Offer?
The vast majority of exclusive features in Windows 11 Pro are related to remote management and setup, as well as other business-specific needs. Those are compelling—and often necessary—for businesses. That’s why most PCs that come with Windows 11 include Windows 11 Home.
If you’re wondering if you should upgrade your home PC for those features, the answer is almost definitely no. Those features aren’t particularly useful outside of a business or educational setting anyway.
There are a few features that Window enthusiasts might find compelling, however.
Windows Sandbox
Windows Sandbox lets you run applications in a virtual environment that is completely isolated from the rest of your system. It isn’t a substitute for good security practices and a healthy dose of caution, but it does allow you to open suspect files or programs without nearly as much risk to your system.
RELATED: How to Make Sure a File Is Safe Before Downloading It
Consider the case where you download an executable that is supposed to let you customize your Windows PC’s user interface. Normally, you’d be forced to run it through a service like VirusTotal.com, then actually try installing it on your PC. If it is a new or particularly clever kind of malware, it is entirely possible the virus scanners on VirusTotal (and on your PC) would miss it. Then you’re stuck with an infected computer. Windows Sandbox would let you load the executable into a safe environment, run it, and then actually see if it is malicious or not, with very little risk to your computer.
Windows Sandbox is definitely one of the most useful features in Windows 11 Pro, and most users could benefit from it.
Hyper-V Manager
Hyper-V Manager is a graphical user interface(GUI) for Hyper-V. Hyper-V is a hypervisor that creates and manages virtual machines.
RELATED: What Is a Virtual Machine Hypervisor?
That sounds complex, but it really isn’t that bad — virtual machines are just ‘fake’ computers that run on your real, physical computer. You can do all sorts of things with them, like run other operating systems, tune their RAM, CPU cores, video memory, and basically any other attribute you want. There are a million and one uses for virtual machines, and they’re really only limited by your imagination, creativity, and needs.
As virtualization programs go, Hyper-V is pretty good — the second iteration of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) relies on it, and WSL’s performance is snappy and responsive. Hyper-V Manager just lets you monitor and control the virtual machines that use Hyper-V with a graphical user interface.
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However, Hyper-V Manager isn’t really necessary. There are plenty of virtualization applications available for Windows, like VirtualBox or VMWare Workstation Player, that are excellent and free. Proxmox and EXSi are both good choices if you’…….
Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/822714/should-you-upgrade-to-the-professional-version-of-windows-11/