Networking in New Ways

In Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced the Network And Sharing Center as the one place to go for most network-related tasks. The concept annoyed some longtime Windows veteran users, who discovered that common network tasks they had learned to accomplish with simple shortcuts in Windows XP now required extra clicks or keystrokes.

The Windows 7 Network And Sharing Center gets a usability overhaul designed to reduce clutter and make common tasks easier to find.

If you're accustomed to networking in Windows XP, you have a lot of catching up to do. In the networking section of upcoming utorials, we explain how Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) and Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) work together, for example, and how the Link Layer Topology Discovery subsystem helps you build a visual map of your network. Networking changes that are new in Windows 7 include a much-improved interface for connecting to wireless access points.

The most significant addition to the networking capabilities in Windows 7 is the Home- Group feature, which allows two or more computers running Windows 7 to share files and printers and stream media without the hassle of managing individual user accounts and permissions.

If your network includes computers running earlier versions of Windows, you'll need to set up shared access using more traditional techniques. The differences from Windows XP- based networks are profound. You can specify different levels of security for sharing and, on individual files and folders stored on NTFS volumes, you can specify which accounts and groups, if any, are allowed to access those files.