Differences between Pro and Home
Pro is really designed for the business network environment and supposedly has advanced security as well as enhanced networking functions. It is enough for my school to supply XP Pro for free and require that you use it on their network, but not absolutely necessary for an average user on a home network.
That said, I'd still get Home if for a laptop that old since you'll probably not use half its features on it, especially given the added cost (for those of us who buy our software).
