[Orion] Windows XP home vs. Windows XP Pro for flash upgrade to Orion

[Bob McCormick W1QA]

> I have been asked by many persons where I received 
> the information that PRO was much better than HOME 
> for upgrading the flash to the Orion.  I was told by 
> Paul Clinton at Ten Tec.  He said that it was a 
> lot more stable and that HOME could be tricky.

Makes no sense to me - and I'm not sure where Paul is
getting that information.

Please consider reviewing the Microsoft 
Windows XP Comparison Guide (02 Jul 2001) at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx

For the approximate US $100 additional you get numerous
features that are often required when using an XP based 
system as a client in a corporate network ...
and a few other things thrown in as well.

The only hardware support feature that I'm aware of 
with Home versus Professional is that the Pro version
supports symmetric multi processing (two processors)
whereas home does not.

I am unaware of any differences in the support for
serial interfaces or even the internal driver model
in XP for com ports; that should be all that's required
for the TenTec utility that talks to the rig ...
and it should work equally as well in either version.

Even in consideration of the fact that a lot of home
(consumer) systems come preloaded with tons of junk
on them - there shouldn't be anything that affects
TenTec's utility in communicating with the Orion
(or any of their other rigs).

HTH
Bob McCormick W1QA