Are all Windows 8.1 machines compatible with Windows 8.1 Pro?

As I understand it, "Windows 8.1 Pro" is essentially "Windows 8.1" [non-pro] but with the Windows 8.1 Pro Pack installed, which adds security features among other things.

Can a buyer assume that any Windows 8.1 machine is technically capable of being upgraded to Windows 8.1 Pro, or do they need to ask the vendor any time they want to buy a Windows 8.1 machine then upgrade it to Windows 8.1 Pro?

There are no system requirements for the Windows 8.1 Pro Pack overall separately to Windows 8.1, but a few individual Pro features do have specific requirements. I don't mind if a few niche features might not be available, what I'm mostly interested in is, if a standard company network requires Windows 8.1 Pro for domain binding, will any machine that runs Windows 8.1 be capable of being upgraded to Windows 8.1 Pro and using Windows 8.1 Pro's domain and network features?

Here are the Pro features with specific requirements.

BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive (Windows 8.1 Pro only)

BitLocker requires either Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 or a USB flash drive (Windows 8.1 Pro only)

Client Hyper-V requires a 64-bit system with second level address translation (SLAT) capabilities and additional 2 GB of RAM (Windows 8.1 Pro only)

...

Free internet TV content varies by geography, some content might require additional fees (Windows 8.1 Pro Pack and Windows 8.1 Media Center Pack only)

(when it says USB flash drive it really does mean a standard pen drive, it's for storing the Bitlocker key)

I'm not clear on how integral these features are to 8.1 Pro. Can Pro be run without them?

Crucially, are any of them essential to Pro's ability to "connect to company networks" and connect to domains? I suspect not but I'd like to be certain.

user56reinstatemonica8

Posted 2015-03-02T10:10:19.313

Reputation: 3 946

1Yes. Windows 8.1 can be upgraded to "Pro" without any need to change hardware. I.e. just so long as the machine can run Windows 8 then you can upgrade to 8.1 and all the Pro versions. The Pro versions enable things like "domain join" capability. – Kinnectus – 2015-03-02T10:15:23.143

Awesome, thanks, can you post that as a a full answer? – user56reinstatemonica8 – 2015-03-02T10:17:11.697

No, I am just writing this up. RT cannot be upgrade to Pro because the two versions are written for different architectures. 8/Pro/Enterprise are for IA-32 and x64 and RT is for ARM. Just as, for example, RT won't work on IA-32 and x64. Hence why Windows RT is pre-bundled with Office. – Kinnectus – 2015-03-02T10:38:10.980

@Andruseto - There isn't a Windows on ARM Professional version. There are only 2 versions of Windows RT currently. Windows RT 8 and Windows RT 8.1 – Ramhound – 2015-03-02T11:46:06.457

Answers

There are FOUR main versions of Windows 8:

Windows 8 - This is the basic version that is available in both IA-32 and x64 architectures. You can install this version on any standard computer such as an Intel-based computer.
Windows 8 Pro - This version is targeted toward enthusiasts and business users who require features such as domain join, incoming Remote Desktop connections, EFS, VHD booting, Group Policy. BitLocker and BitLocker To Go are also available. Windows Media Center is also available for this version. As this version is the "core" version it can be upgraded to 8.1 which means that Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8 Enterprise can also be upgraded to 8.1 (i.e. they become 8.1 Pro and 8.1 Enterprise).
Windows 8 Enterprise - This version provides all the features of Windows 8 pro plus additional business-oriented features. This version is only available through enterprise-class channels - i.e. cannot be bought off-the-shelf, such as the retail versions (Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro).
Windows RT - This version is unique in that it was designed to utilise the ARMv7 architecture that is present in many mobile devices such as the Surface RT that use ARM-based processors. Windows RT is not available for IA-32 and x64 processors because it is an unnecessary requirement when one can use Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8 Enterprise. Windows RT cannot be upgraded to higher versions such as Pro or Enterprise.

The upgrade process is the same as Windows 7 where a user can "anytime upgrade" a compatible version by entering a valid product key for the new version. This will then prompt the download of the required additional features. If you prefer, however, a "Pro pack" is available that allows an offline upgrade.

Kinnectus

Posted 2015-03-02T10:10:19.313

Reputation: 9 411

1There are actually more than 4 versions. There are Single Language and Windows 8 w/ Bing but both are basically Windows 8 Core. – Ramhound – 2015-03-02T11:47:08.337

So is it true that none of the Pro features with their own system requirements listed in the question are necessary for a machine to access a Pro-only company network as a Windows 8.1 Pro machine? – user56reinstatemonica8 – 2015-03-02T11:51:21.837

You can still access network shares using any version. You can't domain join unless you use Pro or Enterprise. – Kinnectus – 2015-03-02T11:53:28.803

Yes, I know, I just want to make sure that corporate networking features like Domain Join and Remote Desktop don't require Bitlocker or Client Hyper-V (i.e. they don't have any specific hardware requirements). I suspect not, just want to be certain. – user56reinstatemonica8 – 2015-03-02T12:01:00.880