BreakmanX.com

I read this article the other day and I didn't see anything that only Pro offered that I felt I HAD to have. I'm on a budget, for real yo, and if I can legitimately put XP on my machine for less than $100 I want to do it that way. That said, I might be willing to dish out the extra money to get Pro if I'll get real use out of the extra features. So, if there are features I've overlooked that I NEED to game and check email and write papers then point me to them, if you would.

Also, OEM or retail?

You absolutely DO NOT need Pro, and I'd go OEM - all you really need is the disk.

Yeah, I had a *legal* version of Pro, then downgraded to Home. Can't tell a single difference.

The only real difference Pro offers you over Home is some networking stuff that helps with setting up a domain and inter-office network. For a home computer you don't need Professional.

Thanks again, everybody, for weighing in. You're all saving me a lot of time and especially money, and I appreciate it.

Yeah like i said i dont know alot about it so dont listen to me. All i heard the diffs was like Pro is better for LANing and WANing, so yeah go with home i guess!

UPDATE:
I've ordered XP Home Edition full version OEM from a pricegrabber storefront for $66. I hope I'm not getting screwed. If I do, you'll all hear about it. Barring screwage, it should be here sometime late next week. Hopefully then I can post again, extolling both the virues of XP and all your advice.

Also, the IDE cables are switched and working with no problems so far. Once I got the jumpers set correctly everything was peachy keen.

Finally got it, installed it, and after 2 invalid cd keys activated it. I'll have to take a cue from Captain Murhpy on this one...
Look at me, I'm tryin' my ass off! Windows XP is completely untipoverable!
OK, so not untipoverable, but it's crashed a lot less than Windows 98 would have in the past several days... especially with the gnu stuff I've been running. Thanks again everyone for your advice and input.