I overlooked all those complaints, however, as I tested XP Pro's most impressive new support features—Remote Desktop and Remote Assistance. Both of these features are based on the Win2K Server Terminal Services technology. Remote Desktop lets you control a target XP system from a remote system. This extremely useful feature lets you, for example, connect to your work system from home. It also lets multiple users remotely log on to and simultaneously share one system. Before an XP system will allow any remote connections to it, you must manually enable Remote Desktop on that system. To do so, select the Enable Remote Desktop option from Start, Control Panel, Performance and Maintenance, System, Remote. Then, you can grant permission to specific users to use Remote Desktop. From the remote system, you can access the target system by selecting the Remote Desktop Connection option from Start, All Programs, Accessories, Communications.
Although two remote users can connect simultaneously to the target PC with different user IDs, one user can't connect both locally and remotely at the same time—the remote connection will fail. After you establish the connection, Remote Desktop appears in a Terminal Services window, and the target system is locked to most local activity. But if a user types Ctrl+Alt+Del on the target system, the remote Desktop session ends. In my testing, performance over a LAN connection was impressive.
Remote Assistance, which takes up where Remote Desktop leaves off, lets another user view your screen or take control of your system to troubleshoot a problem. Having this functionality available in the OS will be a boon to Help desk personnel. Like Remote Desktop, Remote Assistance uses the Terminal Services RDP to display the remote screen. To initiate Remote Assistance, you use either Windows Messenger or email to send an invitation to support personnel. If you use Windows Messenger, you can check your list of contacts for a support technician who's currently online. After you issue an invitation, the support technician receives a prompt that lets him or her accept the invitation. Figure 9 shows the remote user's desktop displayed within the Remote Assistance window.
The support technician can choose to simply view the screen or take control of the session. If the technician chooses to take control, the requesting party receives a prompt stating that the support technician has requested a remote control session. After the user replies OK to this prompt, the remote support technician can take control. To terminate the remote control session, the user who granted remote access simply presses the Esc key. An invaluable feature of Remote Assistance lets the support technician conduct a voice conversation while the remote control session is active. This capability lets the technician give the user immediate feedback without needing to pick up the phone. Remote Assistance also lets you send files—a useful feature for collecting data such as a network diagnostics report.
Decisions, Decisions
For business users of Windows Me and Win9x, XP Home or XP Pro is an essential upgrade that provides a much higher level of system stability and capability. XP Pro is also a valuable upgrade for NT users, who will derive productivity benefits from the new interface and tools and will appreciate the new OS's high level of application compatibility and quick boot-up times.
For Win2K users, the question of whether to upgrade to XP is more difficult: Win2K already has comparable stability and productivity. However, Win2K businesses whose users can take advantage of the remote-support features and Windows Messenger conferencing, or whose mobile users need public wireless support, will benefit from XP.