All things being equal SP2 is more stable and predictable than SP3.
However some capture card Driver and Application install disks only work with on version Sp1, Sp2.. ect.. So the choice may be dictated by the cdrom that comes with capture card.
Its hard to speak in generalities, so here is an example:
There are [two] releases of the cdrom for the ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 video capture box.
The one labeled -100 only completes a driver and application install without error on SP0 or SP1.
The one labeled -200 only completes a driver and application install without error on SP2 or SP3.
In this case the "best" one depends on which cdrom you have.
Or you may have to find a driver and application somewhere you can download and simply try it.
Home vs Pro really determines whether the PC can be joined to an Active Directory Domain or not.
The Pro version can be joined to a Domain or Workgroup.
The Home edition cannot be joined to a Domain and sets up its own Workgroup.
These are irrelevant for video capture purposes.
XP has long passed the point where it is safe or reliable to put it on a network. And performing file sharing and domain functions start up additional services which can interfere or derail the focus on video capture. Simply don't worry about it, or don't even connect an ethernet adapter to the PC. Capture to a secondary hard drive other than the primary hard drive which holds the operating system. Then remove that secondary hard drive and put it into a different PC for post processing or editing.
Acquiring and activating XP Home or Pro may also determine which version used.. you may not have much choice.. but either should work.
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