Windows Phone Thoughts: Windows XP Remote Desktop: Everything You Need to Know

Almost a year ago, I was at a Mobius conference in Redmond, and I was telling Joel Evans from Geek.com about the joys of Remote Desktop. Joel wanted to know more, and he asked if I'd write an article for his readers on the A to Z of using Remote Desktop. Well, it took me eight months :oops:, but I finally finished the article a few weeks back, and Geek.com has published it. If you've ever wanted to know more about Remote Desktop, and tap into the possibility of accessing your computer from anywhere you go, this is the article for you. Here's part of the introduction:

"The idea behind using Remote Desktop is simple: wherever you are, if you have Internet access, you can work as if you were sitting at your home computer. This isn't a new idea, but it was given new life with the release of Windows XP Professional. Previous versions of Windows had the ability to connect to a desktop remotely, but only by going through a Windows NT or Windows 2000 box running Terminal Services. Configuration was complex, the price tag was high, and it only flourished in enterprise environments. Joe Small Business/Home User was out of luck, unless Joe was a very smart guy and had some cash to throw at the licensing fee. I wasn't that Joe, and as a result never used Terminal Services.

Windows XP changed all that--the Professional version came with a "Terminal Services Lite" client dubbed Remote Desktop Access that was capable of supporting one remote user at a time. It uses the same protocol as Terminal Services: Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). RDP is a fairly efficient protocol, working relatively well over low-bandwidth scenarios. Microsoft did a very smart thing by renaming it Remote Desktop, and MS engineers came very close to making it easy to use. I say "close" because, like most Microsoft first efforts, the company has a good idea but failed to extend it enough to make it really easy for people to use. With a little effort, however, you can mold Remote Desktop into a solid solution..."