In an earlier article, "XP or Not XP?" I described some of Windows XP's general features and innovations and discussed what IT shops need to think about before upgrading. In particular, Windows XP offers several networking improvements and changes from previous Windows versions, some of which could greatly simplify network administration. Are these compelling enough for your organization to consider upgrading?

At the big launch party in New York City on October 25, just a few networking vendors were showing off their products, such as D-Link, Netgear, and 3Com. These stalwarts were almost overwhelmed by the blaring multimedia, digital video, and other flashy presentations. Perhaps this indicates the relative importance that Microsoft is assigning to the networking improvements, or perhaps it just shows that networking isn't as flashy as digital video. In any case, Microsoft has, in fact, made some important networking advances in XP.

These include easier set-up of networking components, the addition of a personal software-based firewall, better wireless networking support, and new remote control options. Let's examine each and show how the improvements will help you implement your network.

Network Setup Wizard

One of the first things you'll notice is the Network Setup Wizard, shown in Figure 1. This replaces the previously separate Home Networking and Internet Connection Wizards found in Windows 2000 and Me.

This wizard does several things that previously were scattered around the operating system, and once you understand what it does, it could be a benefit for harried network administrators. For example, it

• configures your PC to share an Internet connection or not;
• turns on the built-in software firewall (more on that in a moment);
• walks you through naming your computer and workgroup; and
• sets up peer file sharing with a special "Shared Documents" folder on each PC, and printer sharing as well.

Universal Plug-and-Play Support

Windows XP uses Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology to look for an upstream gateway or router and network location awareness to select the correct network connections for sharing and internal networking. UPnP is just coming out in several residential gateways from D-Link, Netgear, and others. Using these low-end router/firewall products will make remote user setups easier, particularly if you have telecommuters who have this equipment installed at their homes.

The idea behind UPnP is to discover and configure networking devices such as printers, routers, and the like - just like PnP did for internal PC peripherals. Of course, given the early problems with PnP, that may not be the best praise, and so far I have not tested this feature at all since products are just now starting to come out. But it is a good idea, and can help reduce your overall support call volumes if indeed it does work as Microsoft advertises.

Internet Connection Firewall

A big change with Windows XP is the additional of the Internet Connection Firewall feature. While no software-based firewall can match the abilities of various hardware products, it is probably worth a look. It comes enabled automatically if the networking Wizard detects an Internet connection.

One issue for corporate support departments is that this personal firewall might do too good a job and break certain network applications. To turn it off, go to Control Panel | Network Connections | LAN Connections and right-click on Properties. Then go to Advanced | Internet Connection Firewall and uncheck the box to enable protection.

Better yet, if you know what particular ports or applications you'll need to free up, you can leave the firewall enabled and click on the Settings button to configure the firewall to allow these specific tasks. I had some problems with the built-in firewall and found it to be more troublesome than useful in my initial tests. Still, we should give Microsoft some credit for including it, especially as more homes and businesses make use of continuous Internet connections.

Automatic Driver Installation and Configuration

Another nice feature about Windows XP is its ability to automatically detect the appropriate network adapter and install drivers without you having to find a separate software disc from the adapter vendor. This is especially the case for a wide majority of wireless 802.11b network adapters.

Windows XP will automatically search for the fastest network connection available and use that as the primary network interface. This means that for a user working on a laptop with both a standard Ethernet and a wireless network connection, when the user is connected to their wired network Windows XP will automatically switch over to that connection. Windows XP will also bridge between two or more network connections, making it easier to operate your computer without having to separately configure different TCP/IP subnet addresses for each connection.

XP is generally smarter about wireless networks overall, and will give you more information about the state of your wireless connection. This is very useful, particularly in the debugging stage when you are building your first wireless network.

Another change is a new properties sheet called Support, which is part of the Local Area Connections Status Control Panel. On this sheet you'll see information about your TCP/IP network, subnet mask, DNS servers' IP addresses and more. This is a great resource for network administrators trying to troubleshoot their networks because it pulls together a great deal of information previously spread around various places in earlier versions of Windows, or only available through command-line utilities.

Remote Control

The last big innovation in XP has to do with remote control (which Microsoft calls Remote Desktop Sharing) and remote assistance. The two are actually two separate programs with different implemention routines.

For remote control, Windows XP Professional (but not Windows XP Home) includes the ability to act as a host that can be controlled from other Windows machines, whether they are running either version of Windows XP or other older versions of Windows. This provides some of the same kind of remote control features long been found with products such as PC/Anywhere, Carbon Copy and others.

Windows XP Home can't act as a host but does include the Remote Desktop Sharing software. If you want to make use of this software on older versions of Windows, you'll need to install it from either of the XP software CDs. Before you start using this software, you should first be aware of several issues.

First, the remote control feature is not enabled with the default installation. This is a benefit for network security, and you'll have to turn it on by going to the System Control Panel and choosing the Remote tab, then clicking on the check box next to Remote Control that says, "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer." You'll also need to install the Remote Desktop Connection client software on the remote PC if you are running an earlier version of Windows.

Second, the remote control feature uses your standard Windows user access controls and security, and actually logs into the host machine. However, unlike third-party remote control products, the remote control session completely takes over the host and anyone sitting at the host machine will just see a mostly blank screen indicating that a remote program is running. This differs from third-party products that can allow people sitting at the host machine to view what the remote user is doing.

Third, if a user is working on the host when a remote user wants to connect, the host user will be logged off. This has its benefits, especially for corporate support staff trying to troubleshoot problems with the host PC. The remote user can immediately see what the host user was doing on his or her desktop, as long as the remote user connects with the same user name and password as the host user. Of course, if the problem has to do with network connection, then no remote control product will be able to work.

Finally, the built-in Internet Connection Firewall needs to be disabled for the remote desktop control to function correctly.

Remote Assistance

Both XP versions include a separate function called Remote Assistance. This is, in some ways, better than the Remote Desktop Sharing in that you can control a remote machine and both parties can view the screen activity at the same time. Also, Windows XP Home users can act as a host. The drawback is that Remote Assistance features are not available on older versions of Windows.

You can initiate assistance sessions via Windows Messenger or an email invitation, but the latter method can be a security risk if not used properly. For the email invitations, you'll need to include a password (which is not sent by email but is communicated by phone, typically, to maintain security) and you'll also want to limit the amount of time (in hours) that an invitation to control your desktop can be extended. You can also send text messages or even files back and forth between the two computers.

Remote Assistance has three basic steps: first, the end user requests assistance using one of two mechanisms (sending an email with a specially encoded "ticket" as the attachment or sending an instant message via Windows Messenger). The expert who answers this request then needs to click on either the file attachment in the email or the request in the Messenger pop-up box and agree to the request. Finally, the originator agrees to start a remote assistance session.

Windows Messenger

One final change in XP has to do with Windows Messenger itself. Previous versions of Windows had this software included, but it is more noticeable with XP. When you first bring up a new XP computer, it asks you to register yourself with Microsoft (which is optional), and whether you want a Microsoft .NET passport that will enable Messenger and Hotmail applications. If you decline, you will continue to be reminded about this wonderful opportunity for Microsoft to keep even closer track of your activities in cyberspace.

The Verdict

Overall, the XP networking improvements aren't as big a change as from 95/98 to 2000, but they are a step in the right direction. I wouldn't recommend upgrading to XP just for the networking features, unless there is something wrong with your existing Windows networks or you're still running 95/98.

The one possible exception to this rule: if you are planning to implement wireless networks in a big way, XP will support a far greater number of adapters, making it easier for you to set up end users and visitors who could have any variety of adapters.

If you are used to the Windows 2000 control panels and layouts, XP moves some of the functions to new locations or gives them new names, but it won't take long to figure these out. If you are used to Windows 98, you will have some additional sleuthing to track down exactly where these functions now live inside the XP operating system.

David Strom is author of the Home Networking Survival Guide and hundreds of technical articles for a variety of computer trade publications, web sites, and email newsletters. He publishes Web Informant, an almost weekly series of essays about Web marketing and technologies, and was the founding editor-in-chief of Network Computing magazine. He can be reached at david@strom.com.