Experience Mobility
Helping workers on the go stay connected
Upgrade to Windows Vista Experience Windows XP See Mobility in Action How-to Article: Using Remote Desktop Overview: Mobile Computing |
The popularity of laptops shows that people are eager to use mobile technology. But the systems in use today are not as reliable and easy to use as many workers prefer. Windows XP Professional is designed to make mobile computing easier. This operating system is built to provide access to your information while you're on the go.
The mobile computing improvements in Windows XP Professional build on the flexibility of Windows 2000 Professional. New features for mobile computing will help you accomplish as much on the road or at home as you do in the office, so you can be productive no matter where you are. Add these capabilities to the rock-solid reliability, performance, and communication features in Windows XP Professional—you have a system that can do things that you always thought a system should do.
Access Your Office Computer from Anywhere
When you're away from the office and need a file or application that only exists on your office computer's hard disk, there should be an easy way to get it. With the Remote Desktop feature in Windows XP, you can connect to your office computer from anywhere. You control your office PC while using your home computer, your laptop, or any other computer running Windows 95 or later. While connected, you can use most of your business applications, documents, and network resources on your office computer. Performance is excellent because there is no need to transfer files and applications over the network. Remote Desktop transfers only the screen data, keyboard input, and mouse clicks over your network connection.
You're heading to a three-day conference at a beachfront resort, but an important project at the office will need your attention before you return. Your laptop is great, but it seems like the file or program you need is always left on the computer in your office. This time you're prepared. Before leaving the office, you open System Properties on your desktop computer, and enable Remote Desktop. You lock your computer, but you leave it turned on. Then you head off to catch the plane, with your laptop in hand.
Effortless, High-Speed Wireless Connectivity
In the past, if you wanted to get online with your laptop away from the office, the most reliable option was to find a telephone line. For high-speed access, you needed to find a network jack. Windows XP Professional takes advantage of wireless technology and wireless network access points, or "hot spots." These hot spots are being installed in public locations such as airports, conference centers, and coffee shops. They use the leading technology for broadband wireless networks today, known as 802.11b.
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Using a wireless network, you can carry your laptop from office to office, and into meeting rooms, without losing network connectivity. When you're on the road, the enhanced media sense capability in Windows XP Professional automatically detects if a wireless network access point is within range of your laptop and connects you. There is no need for you to configure new network settings. Once on the Internet, you can securely sign on to your company's network using the virtual private networking technology of Windows XP Professional. And you can work as though seated at your office desk.
When you check in at your hotel, your manager has already left you a message. Your coworkers back at the office are busy developing several proposals, and they need your estimates. You settle in to your hotel room, and open your laptop. Windows XP Professional automatically detects the hotel's wireless broadband network and connects you to the Internet. You start a virtual private network connection to your company's network and log on. You access your office computer with Remote Desktop, crunch a few numbers, and copy the files you need onto your laptop.You finish the estimates and e-mail them to your manager, but you know he'll have questions. Rather than wait in the hotel, you head to a coffee shop on the beach. The coffee shop is a wireless access point, according to the hotel concierge. Sipping a tall iced coffee, you open your laptop, and smile because you're online again. You reply to your manager's questions in e-mail. Now it's time for a walk on the beach.
Work Without Interruption
Laptops and mobile devices help you work while on the go—unless your batteries die. Windows XP Professional enhances the breakthrough technology that was introduced to extend battery life in Windows 2000. The Hibernate and Standby features in Windows XP perform more quickly, conveniently, and reliably. Faster hibernation and standby mean your laptop is always ready to work when you are. Windows XP Professional switches into hibernate mode when your power runs low or when you pause what you're doing. When you reconnect to a power source or begin working again, you have immediate access to the most current version of your documents—without having to reboot.
During the flight home, you continue working on your estimates, which you saved on your laptop. When you take a break for dinner, Windows XP Professional saves your work, and then goes into hibernation mode to conserve battery power. Following dinner, you continue the project. By the time your plane lands, you have perfect estimates, ready to insert into the proposals that, if approved, just might win you a promotion.