I never used Home edition with my dual core. Because I do a lot of overclocking and I like to stick with XP Pro. I just download my Dual Core drivers and optimizer and im ready to go. With Pro i don't have to worry about the performance of the cores. I sometime assign them to different programs and the results are noticeable. Pro is more solid and with all the updates its even better. Home imo is for casual users. Its all about the feel of the system. When i was troubleshooting a Home system I was not able to go in depth on some things. I noticed "advanced" buttons were missing. I give pro props for stability and performance. I would still take XP Pro any day over Vista. and thats why i dual boot them Good luck in setting it up. Its up to you what you feel more comfortable with. Get another Opinion (just not from sales ppl).