Application sharing in Windows Messenger for Windows XP: My 2000 Mile Wide Conference Room
Published: August 6, 2001
By Barb Bowman, Windows XP Expert Zone Community Columnist
Editor's Note: Past articles by members of the online community are archived for your use. The information may become outdated as technology changes. For the most current information, please search the Web site or post a question in the newsgroups.
It didn't take me long to discover that the Windows Messenger communications and application sharing platform has all but done away with time and distance barriers to real-time collaborative efforts. Thanks to this new feature of Windows XP, I have a virtual conference room in my home office and no one has to fight airline delays to get there on time. It wasn't that long ago that it was nearly impossible to work on a project in real time with another person who wasn't in the same room without using paper documents and a telephone. I still remember projects with business associates on the other side of the Atlantic that included faxed suggestions sent back and forth and even telexed documents. It was slow, it was painful, and to be honest, I don't know how we managed to do business. The big news is that now, thanks to Windows Messenger, application sharing is easier and more intuitive to use than ever before.
 | Windows Messenger brings all collaboration and real-time communication tools together in one place: voice, video, file transfer, instant messaging, and application sharing. |  | |
| |
|
Productivity at Internet Speed
Today, the venues for application sharing using Windows Messenger extend from business to the home, schools, or just about anywhere that Internet connectivity is available. Windows Messenger brings all collaboration and real-time communication tools together in one place: voice, video, file transfer, instant messaging, and application sharing. Everything moves in real time and at Internet speed. Windows Messenger is the empowerment tool that will never make you late for a meeting because you're stuck in traffic or because your plane is delayed. You might use the application sharing technology in Windows Messenger to draft press releases on an urgent basis in Word while your legal department works with you, let your dad look over your term paper, or edit a photo layout with friends or colleagues in real time. Windows Messenger not only lets you collaborate with another person, but adds the capability of having an audio discussion (or one that includes voice and video) while you're working on a project together. It's as if you were in the same room!
Supercharging Creative Ideas
Shortly after Windows XP Professional, Release Candidate 1 was made available, I thought it would be interesting to work on a project with a few Associate Experts from the Expert Zone and with Windows journalist Paul Thurrott. From a long ago Girl Scout camping experience, I remembered how much fun it was to sit around a campfire and create an original story with each person adding a sentence or two to build it. I invited this small group to contact me online using Windows Messenger, so we could collaboratively write a verse for children to demonstrate the power of application sharing. It was an opportunity to let everyone's creative juices flow and have a really good time. I decided we should tell the story of a turtle who wanted to go to a NASCAR race, and I wrote the first stanza.
Getting Connected is Simple
Working with the group was as easy as starting a conversation with one person online using Windows Messenger. I typed a few words of greeting and, after determining whether we both had voice/microphone capabilities to enhance the session, I sent an invitation to share applications. To share applications from within the Windows Messenger:
1. | Click File, and point to Invite. |
2. | Click To Start Application Sharing. 
|
Almost immediately, an indicator appeared on my screen, showing the connection status, which progressed from waiting to connecting to connected. Then a separate window quickly displayed the open applications running on my computer.
Sharing Only When and What You Want
I clicked a check box to select the application I wanted to share, and clicked a radio button to allow the remote party to take control. This button toggles between Allow Control and Prevent Control for all applications currently shared. Control of sharing individual applications or all currently shared applications is accomplished using the Unshare or Unshare All buttons. There are additional settings to Automatically accept requests for control, as well as a Do not disturb with requests for control option.
I shared the Word document containing the story we were building. (By the way, the remote party doesn't need to have a copy of the shared application on their system, so this could be an interesting way to try out programs you don't currently own.) I elected not to automatically accept control requests so that I could see the prompts displayed by Windows Messenger when control was requested. If both parties have fast connections to the Internet and upper-end hardware, Share in true color can be selected to enable the best possible visual experience. After specifying the control settings, the application sharing control window opens on the remote user's computer. The remote user selects Take Control from the File menu in the application sharing window on his computer, which produces a prompt on my computer giving me the opportunity to Accept or Reject the request. It's important to note that any time I wanted regain control of the application, all I had to do was press any key on my keyboard.
The image below shows a request for control in progress.
After clicking Accept, I minimized all windows with the exception of Word, which gives the remote user a clean workspace. It's important to create a clean workspace, because leaving open applications on top of the shared application will partially cover the shared application on the remote computer with a solid or patterned window. This is done for security: so the contents of any open applications you are not sharing are protected from view.
Getting the Job Done at Warp Speed
As I worked with my online colleagues, I found that my productivity was super-charged by the ability to work collaboratively in Word and simultaneously discuss the evolving storyline using Windows Messenger real-time audio messaging. I quickly realized that this was technology at its best: unobtrusive and in the background. After getting started in an application sharing session, I found that the empowering technology stayed behind the scenes and let us just write and talk in a very natural manner. I almost forgot that I wasn't in the same room with the other person. The total elapsed time from the conception of the idea to finishing the project and deciding on a title was less than four hours. I think it might have taken longer if we were in the same, rather than a virtual, meeting place.
We had a lot of fun and learned how easy it is to collaborate and share applications over the Internet with Windows Messenger. The creative result of our afternoon project? A limerick for children that was written in real time using application sharing entitled “The Ride”. I hope you like it!
Barb Bowman enjoys sharing her own experiences and insights into today's leading edge technologies. She is a product development manager for AT&T Broadband Internet Services, but her views here are strictly personal.
