I needed a way to make my networked gear talk to each other, and as I'd been a cheapskate and got the windows edition that didn't offer a Remote Desktop Connection Server, I needed some (preferably) free and relatively easy to use software that did just that, and worked so that my Linux and Apple box could talk to my Windows boxes.

A quick google got me to the RealVNC site, and I downloaded and installed the free edition. Once doing some digging around my Linux Ubuntu PC (that i was also using as a server) I found out that the VNC software came ready installed on it as a service, so I could just set it up to accept incoming connections without any fuss. That was sorted once I ripped out the peripherals and shoved it in a corner.

For my mac box I downloaded the Vine Server, which also was piss easy to run and configure, and like on the linux box automatically installed itself as a service.

Both of the non windows boxes were now accessible from my windows machine, so next I started on the other windows machine.

I had to download a beta version of UltraVNC, because in Windows Vista Microsoft have mucked about with the services so the UltraVNC team had to write a workaround. I finally got it working however, and I praise the makers of the VNC software for making my life a tad easier.

Of course the windows installation didn't go as planned, and in the end (as the machine wouldn't boot) I had to reinstall the software in safe mode, but alas, it did kinda work in the end. (If not for the enormous lag caused by aero.)