What versions of Minecraft are available for Windows 10, and what are their differences?

Question

I'm wondering about versions of Minecraft. We have it on Android and have decided to buy it for our laptop. It's a Lenovo Laptop and uses Windows 10.
There is a Starter Collection and a Master Collection. There are also PE, Java, Bedrock Edition, Redstone Edition, and several other types of Minecraft. Are any of these versions difficult to play on a laptop? What are the differences between them?

Topcode · Accepted Answer

There are 2 versions of minecraft, Bedrock and Java. They each have pros and cons. Bedrock edition is the same version you have on your mobile device, so I don't need to tell you about that, the differences are minimal between platforms, however java is very different from bedrock. There are some key differences I will list.

You cannot play java servers with bedrock edition and cannot play bedrock servers with java edition. However some servers are both bedrock and java however a bedrock player and java player still cant play together.
Java edition has the ability to play any version of minecraft ever released, bedrock can only play the latest
Bedrock and java have two very different combat systems.
Java edition has more customizability due to the fact that it is much easier to mod the game.
Java edition has no marketplace, meaning almost all maps, resource packs and other downloadable community made content is free
Skins dont cost money on Java edition
There are no emotes with java edition (though you can install mods to add them)
there is no skin creator in java edition
There is a debug menu that shows details about the game like your coordinates in java edition
Java edition and bedrock edition have different command structures for some commands and bedrock edition has much less support for nbt changing commands
Java edition is by default less optimized, however many mods like sodium and optifine optimize it very well

That's pretty much all I could think of, feel free to edit this if I got something wrong.

Schism · Answer

Adding on to Topcode's answer, the Starter Collection and Master Collection are not actually separate editions of Minecraft; they are bundles that include a bunch of optional add-ons, together with Minecraft for Windows 10 (which is the Bedrock Edition of the game).
It's probably best to purchase just the game by itself, unless you know for sure you want those specific add-ons. You can always purchase add-ons later.

What versions of Minecraft are available for Windows 10, and what are their differences?

2 Answers

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question