Windows 11: The differences between Home and Pro versions

Compared to Windows 10, not much has changed in Windows 11 in terms of the different versions, especially the Home and Pro versions. This also means that if your machine was previously running Windows 10 Home, you can get Windows 11 Home for free. The same applies to upgrading from Windows 10 Pro.

Incidentally, the free update still works for Windows 7 and 8: both as an upgrade of a running computer and as a new installation with the keys of the old versions.

But what is missing in the Home version compared to Windows 11 Pro? These are the encryption of the entire data medium (Bitlocker), the data encryption EFS (Encrypting File System), the group policy editor and the “Local Users and Groups” option in the computer management. The same applies to extended remote access (remote desktop), kiosk mode with just one application, Hyper-V virtualization technology and a few other business and security functions. But don’t worry: Windows 11 is not insecure at all!

Enlarge

The differences between Windows 10 and 11 for private use are small, and some restrictions can also be eliminated with tools or tricks.

In practice, home users are likely to miss the encryption of data and data carriers the most. However, you can retrofit this function with the free tool Veracrypt. After all, Microsoft requires home users to have an online account. In practice, however, this can easily be circumvented by typing any password in the corresponding setup step in the Microsoft account windows field. Acknowledge the subsequent error message “Unfortunately, a problem has occurred” by clicking on “Next”, whereupon the Home Edition can also be set up with a local user account.

Tip: You can read more about the differences between Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro in this article:

Windows 10 Pro vs. Home: 6 good reasons to switch