Comments on: Some more better-together features of Windows Vista – Server 2008

By: Armando

Armando — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:32:57 +0000

I must agree with the author, and that is Microsoft has a massive campaign stratagy to boost sales of new operating systems. I also have recently researched the comparative differences between Server 2003 r2 & 2008 r2 and found nothing but vague discriptions and buzz-words that say nothing and promise everything. I’m sure that everyone reading this article is intelligent enough to know that Microsoft likes to tell users and especially upper-management what they want to hear to make the sale. Seems that the writers for Microsoft should also write for politicians.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:12:59 +0000

Dan, thanks a lot for the information. This just comes in handy since I am currently working on an article for a German magazine about this topic.

Aaron, thanks for clarifying this issue.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:42:43 +0000

SIngle-Sign On what what I should have said instead of Network Level Authentication back on the other post.

As I understand, the Cisco NAC support in the Vista NAP agent will give you the same level of functionality as the Cisco’s own NAC agent. On XP, if you have both the NAP agent and the NAC agent you should have the same level of functionality as you would see on Vista.

By: Dan Shappir

Dan Shappir — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:40:36 +0000

Michael,
We (Ericom) are in the Terminal Services business, and we are a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a Terminal Services partner. Therefore we make it our business to know which Terminal Services functionality is or isn’t available in Windows Server 2008, and what the requirements are.

Specifically to your questions:
1. Single Sign-On: “You can only use single sign-on for remote connections from a Windows Vista®-based computer to a Windows Server® 2008-based terminal server. You can also use single sign-on for remote connections from a Windows Server 2008-based server to a Windows Server 2008-based server” – http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/e97073f7-98b0-44a8-babd-5832996fb6aa1033.mspx?mfr=true

2. Plug-and-Play: “Device redirection over Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) has been enhanced in Windows Vista and Windows Server codename “Longhorn” with the introduction of the new Plug and Play Device Redirection Framework” – http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/archive/2006/12/05/terminal-server-plug-and-play-device-redirection-framework-in-vista-and-longhorn-part-1.aspx

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:20:15 +0000

Dan, thanks for the link. I didn’t know that only the RDP client of Vista supports single sign on and plug-and-play devices. Where did you get this information?

Aaron, I didn’t say that the NAP agent for XP includes the NAC agent. The point is that you can use Cisco NAC together with NAP on XP. You only have to install the NAC agent for this which is not required for Vista. The question is, will you have less functionality on XP if you install both agents? Do you know something about this?

Dennis, the topic of this article wasn’t common improvements of Vista and Server 2008. My concern was the features of Windows Server 2008 that would make you want to move your clients to Vista. IPv6 isn’t such a feature because you can have it for XP, too. However, the new TCP/IP stack has indeed “better-together features”. I discussed this in my .

Leonardo, seems we share the same aversion.

By: Leonardo

Leonardo — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:00:07 +0000

Argh! Marketing-speak!

By: Dennis Harders

Dennis Harders — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:56:47 +0000

Michael,

Also a great improvement is the complete rewriting of the TCP/IP stack. Microsoft calls it: The Next Generation TCP/IP Stack.
The Next Generation TCP/IP Stack in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 is a complete redesign of TCP/IP functionality for both Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) that meets the connectivity and performance needs of today’s varied networking environments and technologies.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/network/bb545475.aspx

By: Aaron

Aaron — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:42:12 +0000

Where have you seen information about NAC support in the Windows XP NAP agent? Everything I’ve read states that the Cisco NAC agent is still required for XP machines running the NAP agent.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/0/8/d08df717-d752-4fa2-a77a-ab29f0b29266/NAC-NAP_Whitepaper.pdf

By: Dan Shappir

Dan Shappir — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:19:43 +0000

Michael,
You are correct in stating that TS Gateway is available for XP as well. Indeed, many of the new Terminal Services features are also available for XP, provided you have RDP6.1 installed on it. Some features also require .NET Framework 3. For a list of which feature work on XP and which require Vista see this post at my blog:
http://ericomguy.blogspot.com/2007/10/are-windows-server-2008-terminal.html