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Published November 2003
Abstract
Together, Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional and Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 bring
exciting new and enhanced features to all types of mobile users. This white paper describes these
features and how they help IT professionals give mobile users a better computing experience, making
them more productive on the road and in the office.
The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft
Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because
Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted
to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the
accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.
This white paper is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO
WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT.
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limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced,
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of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks,
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© 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, ClearType, Hotmail
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Windows, the Windows logo, and Windows Mobile are either registered trademarks
or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners. Microsoft Corporation • One Microsoft Way •
Redmond, WA 98052-6399 • USA
Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................. 4
Mobility Scenarios .................................................................................. 5
Road Warrior
5
Corridor Warrior
6
Telecommuter
6
Data Collector
6
Mobility Devices ...................................................................................... 8
Notebook PC
8
Tablet PC
9
Pocket PC 2003
10
Smartphone
10
Mobile Connectivity .............................................................................. 12
Provides Fast and Inexpensive Network Access
12
Empowers Information Workers to Collaborate More Effectively
18
Enables Employees to Communicate and Coordinate
19
Mobile Productivity ............................................................................... 22
Users Accomplish More in Less Time
22
Users Are Productive in the Office and on the Go
25
Makes Unplugging and Hitting the Road Easier
27
Mobile Dependability ............................................................................ 29
Provides Tools to Quickly Resolve Problems
30
Helps Keep Confidential Information Safer
32
Helps Protect Networks from Malicious Intruders
33
Summary ................................................................................................ 36
2
For More Information ............................................................................ 37
Sources .................................................................................................. 38
3
Introduction
Laptops continue to rise in popularity as business users shun traditional desktop PCs in favor of more
portable technologies. The trend shows that business-savvy users are more eager than ever to adopt mobile
technologies. Microsoft caters to their needs with the mobility features built into Microsoft Windows XP and
Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003. Microsoft designed both to provide users with access to their
information in the office and on the road and to make supporting mobile users easier for IT professionals.
Traditional mobile computing is giving way to recent advances. The basic laptop computer is still the
cornerstone of most mobile users’ travel gear, but new form factors, such as the Tablet PC and Smartphone,
are brilliant complements that better address their needs in different scenarios. Microsoft is extending the
business features in Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 to adapt to
these new form factors.
First on the mind of most IT professionals is the impact that Windows XP Professional and Office Professional
Edition 2003 have on their users’ productivity. According to the white paper “Higher Yields: The Financial
Benefits of Windows XP Professional,” mobile users can be more productive by an additional $259 per
computer each year directly due to the mobile features built into Windows XP. Additionally, user productivity
per computer can increase by about $46 a year. Most of this achievement is due to better reliability and faster
startup. These features, and Office Professional Edition 2003 features not mentioned in “Higher Yields: The
Financial Benefits of Windows XP Professional,” are the subject of this white paper. This white paper also
describes features for IT professionals who support mobile users.
In this paper, you find the following sections:
This section:
Describes:
Mobility Scenarios
The four basic types of mobile users
Mobility Devices
The four basic types of mobile devices
Mobile Connectivity
How Windows XP Professional enhances connectivity and collaboration
Mobile Productivity
How Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 make users
more productive
Mobile Dependability
Why Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 are more
secure and reliable
4
Mobility Scenarios
This section describes four basic types of mobile users, which Table 1 summarizes:

Road Warrior. Professionals who travel frequently and require remote access

Corridor Warrior. Knowledge workers who spend most of their time away from their desks

Telecommuter. Knowledge workers who work occasionally at home

Data Collector. Field service employees who travel full-time, requiring remote access
Table 1. Mobility Scenarios
Road Warrior

Profile

Connects to
customers and
colleagues

Spends most time
away from desk

Collaborates with
colleagues
>80% of the time

<20% of the time

Meetings all day
Travel
Examples
Telecommuter

Data Collector
Accesses the
corporate network
irregularly

Collects and
processes data

Delivers enhanced
services to clients

Access network
from home or
home office

>80% externally

Access to
corporate network
resources and
LOB applications

Access to
information and
applications while
away from desk

Access to
information and
applications while
at home office

Access to
corporate network
resources and
LOB applications

Dial-up

Dial-up

Dial-up

Dial-up

VPN

VPN

Cable, DSL

VPN

Public wireless

Corporate wireless

VPN

Public wireless

Remote Desktop

Remote Desktop

Knowledge
workers

Field service
employees in
various industries
Requirements
Mobile Access
Corridor Warrior

Executives

Executives

Consultants


Sales
representatives
Healthcare
workers

Students
Road Warrior
Road warriors are typically professionals who travel frequently, up to 80 percent of the time. They require
technology that enables them to stay connected with customers and colleagues, which allows them to work
anytime from anywhere. For example, the following types of users are typically road warriors:

Executives
5

Consultants

Sales representatives

Insurance agents

Pharmaceutical representatives
Road warriors have a broad choice of mobile devices from which to choose. They can use a traditional laptop
computer or Tablet PC with wired and wireless networking. In any case, they require access to corporate
network resources and line-of-business (LOB) applications through dial-up connections, virtual private
networking (VPN), or wireless public access. They can back up their primary mobile PC with a Pocket PC or
Smartphone enabled for wireless networking. They tend to use their handheld devices for calendaring, email,
and travel planning.
Corridor Warrior
Corridor warriors are typically mobile professionals, including executives and healthcare workers, and mobile
students in campus environments. They travel less than 20 percent of the time and are usually dashing
through the corridors from one meeting or one patient to the next. They require access to information and
applications while away from their desks, ad hoc collaboration with their colleagues, and a paperless
environment.
Corridor warriors have a broad choice of mobile devices from which to choose, similar to road warriors. They
can use a traditional laptop computer or Tablet PC with wired and wireless networking. Healthcare workers
favor Tablet PC. Alternatively, they can use a traditional desktop computer backed up by a Pocket PC.
Regardless, access to corporate network resources through wireless networks allows them to remain
productive as they move throughout their environment during the day. They also benefit from remote access
to their desktops by using Remote Desktop.
Telecommuter
Telecommuters work at home at least one day a week. A related type of user, work extenders, works at home
only occasionally. In any case, they work at home or out of the office less than 25 percent of the time.
Telecommuters typically have a traditional desktop or laptop computer at the office and a second computer at
home. They require remote access to corporate network resources using VPN through dial-up connections,
cable, or DSL. They also connect to their primary desktop computer by using Remote Desktop.
Data Collector
Data collectors are field service employees in a variety of vertical industries. They tend to collect and process
data, deliver enhanced services to better serve clients, and are out of the office more than 80 percent of the
time. For example, data collectors are typical in the following industries:

Healthcare

Finance

Insurance
6

Retail

Manufacturing

Government

Transport

Distribution

Engineering

Construction

Utilities

Emergency rescue
Data collectors use laptop computers and Tablet PCs with wireless networking. Alternatively, they use
handheld devices, such as a Pocket PC, or a phone with data capabilities, such as Smartphone. They require
access to LOB applications through dial-up connections, VPN, and wireless networking. They are potentially
heavy users of wireless hotspots (public wireless networks).
7
Mobility Devices
This section describes the four basic types of mobile devices:

Notebook PC

Tablet PC

Pocket PC

Smartphone
Figure 1 relates each type of mobile user to the mobile devices most suitable for their requirements. Each
quadrant in this figure represents a level of productivity and mobility, with the top-right quadrant representing
the highest level of both. The sections following this one describe each type of device in more detail.
Potential Productivity Gains
Corridor Warrior
Tablet PC or Notebook +
possibly Pocket PC
Telecommuter
Work Extender
Desktop or Notebook
and Home PC
Road Warrior
Tablet PC or Notebook +
Pocket PC and/or Smartphone
Data Collector
Tablet PC or Notebook +
Pocket PC and/or Smartphone
Increased Mobility
Figure 1. Mobility Usage Scenarios
Notebook PC
Notebook PCs (e.g., laptops, portables, etc.) are the staple computers for most business travelers. Current
models contain in a slim form the processing power and conveniences that were limited to traditional desktop
computers only a few years ago. For example, current high-end laptops, most of which are designed for
Windows XP, contain feature sets similar to the following:
8

Pentium 4 mobile processor

256 MB of memory

40 GB of hard disk space

Enhanced battery life and management

High-resolution display adapters (1280 X 1024, for example)

Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports

FireWire (IEEE 1394) ports

Wi-Fi networking support (802.11b wireless networking)

Bluetooth wireless
These features make current-day laptop computers feasible replacements for desktop computers and
essential companions for road warriors. Maintaining both types of PCs is no longer necessary.
Tablet PC
Tablet PCs and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition extend the features of laptop computers and Windows XP,
making them the best choices for the millions of road warriors, corridor warriors, and data collectors. Sales
representatives working on the road, senior executives overseeing operations around the world, or
supervisors working on the manufacturing floor all spend many hours each week working in places other than
their offices.
Tablet PCs give mobile workers a powerful, versatile computing experience. The Tablet PC is a full-functional
laptop that runs Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Windows XP Tablet PC Edition is a superset of Windows XP
Professional designed to add pen computing to an already rich feature set, not a stripped-down version of the
operating system. Windows XP Tablet PC Edition provides new, advanced handwriting and speech
recognition, which is surprisingly accurate, enabling the creation, storage, and transmission of handwritten
notes and voice data.
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition adds the following to the features of typical laptop PCs:

Tablet PCs run Windows XP Professional with specific enhancements for tablet computers. Users get all
the features, reliability, and power of Microsoft’s latest operating system as well as handwriting and
speech recognition in a tablet form factor.

Tablet PCs can run any application that’s compatible with Windows XP. Users have access to the same
tools that they have on their desktop computers in more versatile, tablet computers.

Tablet PCs are available in two form factors, pure tablet and convertible, allowing users to choose a
model that best suits their needs. Pure tablets don’t have a keyboard and rely on the pen as the primary
input device. Convertible tablets have a keyboard and mouse but allow users to rotate the screen to use it
like a tablet.

Tablet PCs support docking stations and a variety of common accessories. Users can take advantage of
a full complement of peripherals, including a full-size monitor, keyboard, mouse, printers, and external
9
drives.

Tablet PCs enable surprise hot-docking as well as fast standby and resume. Surprise hot-docking allows
users to grab their Tablet PCs from their docking stations and get down the corridor in a hurry. Also,
Tablet PCs resume from standby mode in about 5 seconds. This functionality allows users to save power
when they aren’t using their computers without wasting time when they’re ready to use their computers
again.
Last, pen and ink features extend to Office Professional Edition 2003 including ink capabilities in each Office
Professional Edition 2003 program, so you can use your tablets’ pens to handwrite text in Microsoft Office
Outlook® 2003, Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 2003, and Microsoft Office Excel
2003.
Pocket PC 2003
Windows-based Pocket PCs give users the freedom to manage their work while on the go. They provide
users the choice to communicate how they choose and stay connected to corporate information when they’re
not in the office. Pocket PCs include familiar Microsoft software, including Pocket versions of Outlook, Word,
Excel, and Internet Explorer. And, since Pocket PCs integrate with users’ desktop computers, users can take
their files with them without having to learn new software.
Here are some examples of what users can do with Pocket PCs, using a form factor that fits in their pockets:

Wirelessly exchange email and browse the Web

Wirelessly exchange messages by using MSN® Messenger

Open email attachments and edit them by using Pocket Word and Excel

Access travel information, including local weather, flight status, and maps

Make travel reservations, such as car, hotel, flight, and dinner
Microsoft recently released Windows Mobile™ 2003 that adds many features that mobile business users
need. It includes Zero Configuration wireless, for example, just like Windows XP. It supports Bluetooth, which
makes connecting a Pocket PC to other Bluetooth-enabled devices easy. Microsoft updated Connection
Manager to make managing connections easier for users. And Pocket PC 2003 includes better support for
messaging, input, contact management, calendaring, and much more. The new features of Pocket PC 2003
make it a truly indispensable tool for the mobile business user.
Smartphone
Windows Mobile-based Smartphones extend mobile phone technology by combining the best of mobile
phones with the best of Pocket PCs. Smartphones deliver a rich set of applications, highly integrated
telephony functionality, and an open development platform. Mobile phones built on the Smartphone platform
provide both voice and text communication and rich wireless data applications in one easy-to-use device, as
well as make it a truly personal and powerful mobile phone for work.
What’s the difference between a Pocket PC and a Smartphone? With Windows Mobile software, Microsoft is
introducing a new phone experience. The company is integrating PDA-type functionality that mobile users rely
on to do their jobs into a voice-centric handset that is comparable in size to today's popular cell phones.
10
Smartphones are designed for one-handed operation with keypad access to both voice or data features.
They’re optimized for voice and text communication, wireless access to Outlook information, and connections
to corporate networks and the Internet. The Windows Mobile-based Smartphone gives users a choice to
communicate via voice or text along with the ability to access information and services so you can stay in
touch while on the road.
Windows Mobile-based Smartphones are now available. The Motorola MPx200 is available in the US, for
example, and Figure 2 shows the actual device.
Figure 2. Motorola MPx200 Windows Mobile-based Smartphone
11
Mobile Connectivity
Along with the dependability that Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 provide,
connectivity is an important attribute for mobile users. All recent versions of Windows provide the support to
connect to remote network resources, but Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003
make it easier to connect, with less support from IT. This section describes how Windows XP Professional
and Office Professional Edition 2003 make connecting to corporate network resources and LOB applications
easier and more productive for all types of mobile users:

Provides fast and inexpensive network access. All four types of mobile users—road warriors, corridor
warriors, telecommuters, and data collectors—can rely on Windows XP’s remote access features to help
connect them to corporate network resources, LOB applications, and their desktop computers. Road
warriors and corridor warriors benefit from Windows XP’s built-in support for Wi-Fi networking.
Automatic wireless configuration makes wireless networking more practical for these users than ever
before. According to Gartner Dataquest, wireless networking in Windows XP Professional enables users
to be 41 percent more productive, giving them an extra 7.5 hours of productivity each week. In Windows
XP, configuring network connections is much easier than in earlier versions of Windows. This makes
connections easier to create for all types of mobile users. Estimates are that simplified network
configuration saves organizations $68 per laptop each year. 1
Wireless networking and simplified network configurations are one of the biggest boons in Windows XP
Professional for IT professionals. Users are more able to configure their own network connections,
becoming more self-sufficient. IT professionals no longer have to plan and configure every connection
when they deploy the operating system to mobile users. The Help desk gets fewer calls from mobile users
as they change environments and thus need to configure new network connections.

Empowers employees to collaborate more effectively. An increasingly important task for mobile users,
particularly road warriors and corridor warriors, is collaborating with customers and colleagues while away
from their desks. Office Professional Edition 2003 includes features that make collaboration more
productive, such as Meeting Workspaces (which provide a centralized place to share agendas, visual
resources, and other meeting documents) and Document Workspaces (which enable users to save,
access, and modify documents in a central location).

Enables employees to communicate and coordinate. All four types of mobile users benefit from better
communication and coordination with customers, partners, and colleagues. Windows XP Professional
provides Windows Messenger for text, audio, and video messaging. Office Professional Edition 2003
integrates with Windows SharePoint™ Services (Microsoft Windows Server 2003 required), which
enables teams to quickly build team-oriented collaborative Web sites, and Outlook 2003 makes
coordinating schedules and contacts much easier and sharing attachments less complicated.
Provides Fast and Inexpensive Network Access
The following list shows how Windows XP Professional makes connecting to corporate network resources
easier:

Mobile users connect corporate network resources remotely.
12
Windows XP Professional makes it significantly easier for users to remotely connect to networks,
including to VPNs, over dial-up connections, infrared, and direct cable connections. The New Connection
Wizard guides them through setting up connections to different types of networks, eliminating the need to
manually configure settings or the requirement that IT professionals configure connections during
deployment. The New Connection Wizard helps users create many types of new connections using a
single user interface. Connection setup is automated, eliminating the need to install additional services.
Remote connection options include the following:
o
Dialing up to a private network. There are more options available for configuring dialing properties
when you connect to a private network over a telephone line, such as when using calling cards,
personal identification numbers (PINs), and other connection-specific information.
o
Dialing up to the Internet. It's easier than ever to set proxy settings and other Internet-specific
information when users connect to the Internet.
o
Accepting incoming calls. Users can set access permissions when accepting connections through
modem, Infrared Data Association (IrDA), or direct cable connection.
o
Connecting directly to another computer. A wizard guides users through the process of making a
direct cable connection, which makes connecting two computers much simpler.
o
Connecting to private virtual networks through the Internet. Connecting to a VPN is easy for all
users, as shown in Figure 3. A wizard and automatic VPN component configuration option eliminate
the need to reboot.
13
Figure 3. Network Connection Wizard
VPNs help to use the Internet as a secured pipeline to the corporate network. When users are traveling,
they can dial in to almost any local Internet Service Provider (ISP) and then set up a VPN session to
connect to the corporate network over the Internet. With VPNs, organizations can significantly reduce
long-distance charges and mobile users have an inexpensive method of remaining connected to the
corporate network for extended periods. Configuring Windows XP Professional to connect using a VPN is
significantly easier with the new Network Connection Wizard. Users enter the VPN server name, and
Windows XP Professional automatically configures the device and adds the appropriate networking
services. In addition to supporting today’s most common VPN protocol, Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol
(PPTP), Windows XP Professional supports new, more secure ways of creating virtual connections.
These include Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) and Internet Protocol Security (IPSec), which allow
users to connect to corporate networks with confidence.
IT professionals don’t have to configure these connections in advance, either, and they’re less likely to
receive late-night phone calls from frustrated mobile users because those users are more likely to
configure their own connections successfully.

Windows XP Professional eliminates repetitive configuration while traveling by allowing mobile
users to configure settings for each location, including dialing rules.
Mobile users often connect to many different networks while they’re traveling, such as different client
networks, corporate networks, and ISPs. With earlier versions of Windows, users must reconfigure their
modems each time they connect to a different network. For example, a corporation’s proxy server might
require a different modem configuration than the user’s ISP. This manual reconfiguration isn’t needed
14
with Windows XP. Instead, the Per-Connection Settings feature retains individual settings for each
network connection, so users can connect to different networks without remembering and reconfiguring
complex settings for each one.
The Favorites feature for Connection Manager enables users to eliminate repetitive configuration of the
Connection Manager properties when switching between common dialing locations. This capability makes
it easy to store and access settings. For example, when mobile users travel between a home office and a
business partner’s office, they can use Connection Manager to configure settings for each location,
including the nearest access telephone number, area code, and dialing rules. You can then choose from
saved settings to quickly set up network connections from each location.
Last, users who use their laptops on more than one network face the problem of using a static IP address
at one location and dynamic IP addressing at another. For example, they might use dynamic addressing
(DHCP) at work but a static IP address at home to connect with a broadband ISP. Windows XP
Professional includes Network Location Awareness, which allows users to move between wired networks,
such as the organization’s corporate network and users’ home networks, without reconfiguring their
laptops. IT professionals now have a solution for one of the most common dilemmas with configuring
network connections for typical mobile users.

Mobile users connect to their desktop computer from home or on the road and access all of their
applications, information, and network resources as if they were sitting at their own computer.
Remote Desktop is based on Terminal Services technology. Using Remote Desktop, shown in Figure 4,
users can run applications on a remote computer running Windows XP Professional from any other client
running Windows 95 or later. The applications run on the remote computer and only the keyboard input,
mouse input, and display output data are transmitted over the network to the remote location. Remote
Desktop even works well in low-bandwidth scenarios.
15
Figure 4. Remote Desktop
Remote Desktop lets users take advantage of the flexibility that a distributed computing environment
provides. A standard component of Windows XP Professional (although not included in Windows XP
Home Edition), Remote Desktop allows mobile users to access their Windows XP–based computer
remotely, over any connection, using any Windows 95 or later–based client. Remote Desktop gives users
access to all their applications, files, and network resources—as if they were sitting in front of their own
computers. Any applications that they leave running at the office will be running when they connect
remotely—at home, in a conference room, or on the road.
As an IT professional, imagine troubleshooting users’ computers without ever getting up from your desk.
Remote Desktop allows IT professionals to log on to users’ computers as Administrator to troubleshoot,
configure, and install applications. This capability eliminates the need to visit the user, which is often
impossible with mobile users, and prevents IT professionals from dumping users into the Administrators
group. And Remote Desktop performs admirably well even over slow links such as dial-up connections.

Mobile users go where they want while staying connected to the network, reducing network
deployment costs at the office and allowing users to tap into public wireless networks.
Wireless networking can extend network users' freedom to solve various problems associated with hard-
16
wired networks and even reduce network deployment costs in some cases. Windows XP Professional
includes key enhancements that make wireless networking faster and easier.
In the past, the most reliable way for mobile users to get online with their laptops while away from the
office was to find a telephone line. For high-speed access, they needed to find a wired network
connection. Windows XP Professional takes advantage of wireless technology and wireless access
points, public or private, to provide untethered access to the Internet and corporate network by using the
leading technology for broadband wireless networks today, known as Wi-Fi networking.
Wireless networking in Windows XP Professional also means less work for IT professionals. Rather than
spending days wiring a conference room for network connectivity, for example, IT professionals can
deploy wireless access points to their conference rooms.

Mobile users can roam from wireless network to wireless network without needing to reconfigure
network connection settings on their laptop computers or Tablet PCs.
The white paper “Higher Yields: The Financial Benefits of Windows XP Professional” attributes a savings
of $830 per year per laptop for automatic configuration, which makes wireless networking practical.
Windows XP Professional offers automatic wireless network configuration using the Wi-Fi standard for
wireless networks, minimizing the configuration that is required to access wireless networks.
Any IT professional who has configured wireless networking connections prior to Windows XP
Professional knows that configuring a wireless connection is often more work than it’s worth. Windows XP
Professional makes configuring wireless connections so automatic that users can do it themselves.
When users enable automatic wireless network configuration on their laptop computers, they can roam
across different wireless networks without needing to reconfigure the network connection settings on their
computers for each location. As they move from one location to a new location, automatic wireless
network configuration searches for available wireless networks and notifies them when there are new
wireless networks available. After they select the wireless network that they want to use, automatic
wireless network configuration updates the users’ wireless network adapter to match the settings of that
wireless network and attempts to connect to that wireless network. With automatic wireless network
configuration, users can create a list of preferred wireless networks and specify the order in which to
attempt connections to these wireless networks.
Recently, Microsoft announced Wireless Provisioning Service (WPS). This service makes connecting to
public hotspots even easier by providing a standards-based way to provision and manage public wireless
connections. It allows Windows XP Professional users to connect to hot spots with a seamless sign-up
process and enables a more secure wireless network access.

Mobile users can conveniently share information with other mobile users without cables.
Windows XP Professional supports the IrDA protocol suite that lets users transfer information and share
resources, such as printers, between computers with no physical cables. Recent models of laptop
computers include hardware support for IrDA. For example, two mobile users traveling with laptop
computers can transfer files by creating an IrDA connection instead of using cables or floppy disks. When
they place their two computers close to each other, IrDA automatically configures the connection.
Also, with ad hoc Wi-Fi networking, two mobile users can exchange files wirelessly. An infrastructure
17
wireless network requires an access point to connect to a network, which is a computer-to-network
wireless network. On the other hand, an ad hoc wireless network is a computer-to-computer wireless
network that doesn’t require an access point but rather that each computer has a wireless NIC.
Empowers Information Workers to Collaborate More Effectively
The following list shows how Microsoft Office OneNote™ 2003, pictured in Figure 5, and Tablet PCs
empower mobile users to collaborate effectively:

OneNote 2003 allows users to contribute in an increasingly demanding business environment by
taking accurate, comprehensive notes.
Notes written on paper have many problems. They’re often illegible. People often miss important points.
And errors are often made during transcription. By using OneNote 2003, users can take notes on their
Tablet PCs or laptop computers—whichever way they want. They can insert any type of information
anywhere in their notebook. They can drag and drop text, graphics, and pictures from other Office
Professional Edition 2003 programs or the Web. And OneNote 2003 automatically saves users notes for
them.

OneNote 2003 helps mobile users to access crucial information so they can make better decisions
and take more effective action.
A problem with notes written on paper is that people loose them or don’t understand them later. Not only
do paper-based notes lead to a loss of crucial information, but they’re difficult to organize. OneNote 2003
enables users to organize all of their notes in one place so that important information isn’t lost. First,
OneNote 2003 presents users’ notes to them in a familiar notebook structure, so they’re already familiar
with the paradigm. And the program allows users to organize their notes anyway that makes sense—
across folders, sections, and pages. Finding information in a notebook is easy by using the Search
feature, and users can highlight key points and action items with Note Flags.

OneNote 2003 gets teams and organizations on the same page so they can work together with
speed and agility.
People tend not to share their notes with other team members, and the result is that key information is not
retained and team members don’t work together as well as they could. With OneNote 2003, users can
easily find notes that contain important information and then share those notes with team members. For
example, users can easily create Office Professional Edition 2003 documents from their notes. They can
quickly email notes to other team members. And they can publish their notes as HTML documents or
collaborate on a notebook section by using Windows SharePoint Services (Windows Server 2003
required).
18
Figure 5. OneNote 2003
Enables Employees to Communicate and Coordinate
The following list shows how Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 make
communication and coordination easier:

Mobile users keep in touch with partners, customers, and colleagues, building deeper
relationships, so they can capitalize on opportunities as they happen.
Windows Messenger enables mobile users to easily stay in touch with their customers, partners, and
colleagues. It keeps users updated with their contacts' online status. Users can collaborate with their
online contacts, transfer files, and share applications and whiteboard drawings. Windows Messenger
provides users with a great platform for online conferencing and collaboration. Windows Messenger also
improves relationships with customers and partners and enhances communication among employees.
The Windows Messenger technology in Windows XP Professional delivers three key features that enable
its benefits:
19
o
An easy, complete real-time communications experience that lets users control their communications
o
A better-quality experience featuring phone-call-quality voice and acceptable-quality video, so calling
over the Internet is not only affordable but also engaging
o
An extensible platform that extends the benefits of real-time communications to any application or
service, enabling users to leverage innovations from a variety of developers and service providers
Outlook 2003 integrates with Windows Messenger, too. When Outlook 2003 users open email messages
or contact cards, they can identify whether those contacts are online. Users can then immediately start a
Windows Messenger session from within Outlook 2003.

Mobile users better manage their day with improved calendaring, scheduling, notifications, and
group coordination features built in to Outlook 2003.
Users with multiple email accounts (such as a Hotmail® account and an account on Microsoft Exchange
Server 2003) can choose on a per-message basis what account to use to send their message. When
users choose an account, an information bar shows which account is used to send the mail. Explicit rules
are built in to determine which account should be used as the default.
Users can share Free/Busy information with others over the Internet. Sharing this information makes it
easier to schedule meetings between Outlook 2003 users who don’t share an Exchange server.
When receiving a meeting request, users now have the option of proposing a new meeting time to the
meeting organizer rather than just declining the request. Also, users who have Exchange server will be
able to see Free/Busy information for each attendee before submitting the new meeting time.
Last, users can save multiple group calendars within Outlook 2003 for quick and easy access to their
team or conference room schedules. Within this single calendar interface, users can view the free and
busy times of their group as well as easily send email or set up an appointment with the entire group.

Outlook 2003 allows users to connect to Exchange Server 2003 using RPC over HTTP.
You can configure user accounts in Outlook 2003 to connect to Exchange Server 2003 over the Internet
without the need to use VPN connections. When used with the Windows Server 2003 RPC Proxy Service
and Microsoft Exchange 2003, Outlook 2003 clients can connect simply by using HTTP or HTTPS,
thereby reducing the need for VPNs or dial-up remote access. If remote users need only to gain access to
corporate messaging information, your IT department doesn’t need to deploy VPN infrastructure. VPNless access reduces costs and provides for increased security by ensuring that remote Outlook users
don’t need access to the entire network. This unifies the connection methods also found in Outlook Web
Access and Outlook Mobile Access.

Outlook 2003 improves the offline experience for mobile users.
Outlook 2003 clients using Cached Exchange Mode perform most email-related tasks from the local
client, reducing the number of requests to the server for data and improving performance for items stored
in the local copy of the mailbox. After the full copy of a user mailbox and offline address book is
downloaded, Cached Exchange Mode significantly reduces network bandwidth consumption for email
between the client and server. This greatly improves the Outlook experience for remote or branch office
users, as well as removes the need to restart Outlook to an offline profile when network interruptions
20
occur. While Cached Exchange Mode works with previous versions of Exchange, additional
improvements in compression and performance between Outlook 2003 and Exchange 2003 make the
user experience even better.

Outlook 2003 improves performance and reduces network bandwidth used.
When you use Outlook 2003 and Exchange 2003, all mailbox content is compressed on the server
running Exchange before sending information to Outlook 2003 clients. This significantly reduces network
bandwidth consumption between the client and server, enabling you to consolidate additional Exchange
sites. After compressing the information, Exchange 2003 packages all information that it sends to Outlook
2003 clients in larger and more optimized buffer packets, thereby reducing the number of requests to and
from the servers running Exchange.

Outlook Web Access 2003 provides easy access to users’ email, calendars, and contacts.
Outlook Web Access enables users to gain access to their messages, calendars, contacts, tasks, and
public folders from any computer with an Internet connection and a Web browser. With Exchange Server
2003, Outlook Web Access has even better performance, is more secure, and has user interface
improvements that closely match those of Outlook 2003.
21
Mobile Productivity
The combination of Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 helps make mobile users
more productive. Because of higher levels of dependability and connectivity in both products, they spend less
time supporting problems, managing features, and mitigating security risks and more time on other important
tasks.
Additionally, Windows XP Professional features, such as the new Start menu and task-based design, and
Office Professional Edition 2003 features, such as Task Panes and Smart Tags, are responsible for making
users 25 percent more productive than with Windows 2000 and Office 2000. American Institutes for Research
(AIR) conducted extensive studies to reach this conclusion. The result is that with Office XP, users completed
all tasks in less time and were able to complete more tasks than with Office 2000. 2
Not only are users more productive, but also users can get their work done faster with Windows XP. eTesting
Labs found that Windows XP Professional is faster than any other version of Windows. The operating system
starts 27 percent faster than Windows 98, for example. It resumes from Standby mode 19 percent faster and
resumes from Hibernate mode 13 percent faster. As well, eTesting Labs found that Windows XP Professional
performs the Business Winstone 2001 benchmark 26 percent faster and the Content Creation Winstone 2001
benchmark 77 percent faster than Windows 98. Windows XP Professional launches applications 50 percent
faster than Windows 98. 1
This section describes the benefits to productivity that Windows XP Professional and Office Professional
Edition 2003 provide:

Users accomplish more in less time. This benefit applies equally to all types of mobile users. They’re
all more productive with Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 than with earlier
versions of these products. Although users performing tasks faster is important to organizations’ overall
productivity, the Help desk also benefits directly from users’ ability to complete more tasks without calling
the Help desk for instructions.

Users are productive in the office and on the go. Road warriors and data collectors benefit most from
the Windows XP Professional features that allow mobile users to take important information with them on
the road. These features require less configuration and management from IT professionals, too, because
they’re more automatic and users are more self-sufficient.

Makes unplugging and hitting the road easier. Although road warriors and data collectors receive
significant benefits from easier docking solutions, Plug and Play, and faster resuming from Standby and
Hibernation modes, corridor warriors receive the greatest benefit from these features. Windows XP
Professional power management improvements also mean that IT professionals spend less time
supporting frustrated users who just want Hibernate to work properly or want to undock their computer
without errors.
Users Accomplish More in Less Time
The following list shows how Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 make all users
more productive:

Office Professional Edition 2003 enables users to find files quicker, format content more easily,
22
and work more efficiently by putting relevant features just a click away.
Office Professional Edition 2003 applications give users easy access to important tasks in a single
integrated view: the Task Pane. From the Task Pane, which users see on the right side of the window,
users can search, open or create new documents, view the clipboard’s contents, format their documents,
and much more. Different tasks have different panes. The result is that users get more done without
having to call the Help desk for instructions. Here are a few samples:

o
New Document. Creating a new file or opening an existing file is simpler by using the Task Pane.
Not only can users quickly open new files from within this pane, but they can also create new
documents from Web-based templates or existing documents and get a list of their most recently
used templates and documents.
o
Clipboard. Office Professional Edition 2003 improves the clipboard by allowing users to copy up to
24 pieces of information at once across all Office Professional Edition 2003 applications or the Web
and store them on the Task Pane. Also, the Task Pane gives users a visual representation of the data
on the clipboard and a sample of the text so that they can easily choose between different items on
the clipboard.
o
Search. The search features in Office Professional Edition 2003 make finding text in a document
simpler. Users can also find files and folders, regardless of where they’re stored, without leaving the
document on which they’re working. Further, users can index files on their machines, resulting in
faster and much more comprehensive searches.
Office Professional Edition 2003 provides relevant information and options when users need
them.
Smart Tags are a set of buttons that all Office Professional Edition 2003 applications share. These
buttons appear when users need them, such as when an Excel 2003 formula contains an error or when
Word 2003 automatically corrects text that users enter. For example, Word 2003 provides a way for users
to modify automatic behavior, as shown in Figure 6: They can undo an automatic correction or choose to
forgo that correction in the future.
Figure 6. Smart Tags
A Smart Tag also appears when users paste content into a document. Multiple paste options allow users
to decide whether they want to paste their data as they originally copied it, change the style so that it fits
the context into which they’re pasting it, or apply specific formatting to the data based on the content.
Last, Smart Tags are extensible, so organizations can create their own. Third parties can tie into the
Smart Tag technology to offer their own solutions for Office Professional Edition 2003 users. For
23
example, an organization can create a Smart Tag that links users directly to all of the organization’s
customers, orders, prices, and more each time users type an order number into Excel 2003.

Windows XP Professional gets users to work quicker by booting faster.
Typical computers can take several minutes to boot up, which is far too long for a business meeting
during which potential clients are short on time and patience. Startup and shutdown times are a critical
part of mobile users’ experiences, and Windows XP Professional includes power-management
improvements that move the computer closer to instant-on access.
Windows XP Professional is based on the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)
specification. This specification allows computers to emerge from Hibernate mode in less than 30
seconds. Hibernate mode turns off all power to the computer for an indefinite period of time while
maintaining the state of all open programs and connected devices. Windows XP Professional also
supports Suspend mode, which puts the computer into a deep sleep that uses very little power. Waking
from Suspend mode takes only a few seconds but can add hours to battery life. Both Hibernate- and
Resume-mode performance improvements enhance the availability of users’ computers, and because
they work better than in earlier versions of Windows, planning mobile configurations and supporting
power management are easier for IT professionals.

Windows XP Professional interrupts users less, making them more productive.
Windows XP Professional dramatically reduces reboot scenarios over Windows 2000. The operating
system eliminates most scenarios that force end users to reboot in earlier versions of Windows. Also,
many software installs will no longer require reboots. The result is users experience higher levels of
uptime. IT professionals probably benefit most from a reduced number of reboots, however.
Troubleshooting, configuring, and installing software take much less time when they don’t have to restart
the computer at each step.

Leverage hardware investments by allowing mobile users to work on multiple screens, expanding
their working spaces.
Mobile users can benefit from hardware features designed to enhance user experience, such as
DualView. DualView is an extension to the multiple monitor support built into Windows 2000. Some highend display adapters and many portable computers support two interfaces to the same display adapter.
DualView enables both interfaces to display different outputs at the same time. For example, on a
portable computer, users can connect a monitor and use both the laptop computer’s display and the
external monitor to expand their desktop space. Also, users giving presentations can use the laptop
computer’s display to look up information in documents without interfering with the presentation that the
audience sees on the second monitor.

Mobile users work for longer periods of time because of less fatigue from clearer text display.
Microsoft ClearType® is a new text display technology that triples the horizontal resolution available for
rendering text. This technology results in clear text on a standard LCD screen using a digital interface.

Users can choose alternative forms of input that feel more natural.
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and Office Professional Edition 2003 enable you to use pens to control
your computers, input text, and even store handwritten notes directly in their documents. For example,
24
users can take meeting notes in their own handwriting and then convert those notes to text after the
meeting.
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and Office Professional Edition 2003 both support speech recognition as
a more natural form of input, supplementing the traditional mouse and keyboard. Users can dictate text,
navigate menus, format documents, and much more by using speech recognition.
Users Are Productive in the Office and on the Go
The following list shows how Windows XP Professional makes users productive when not connected to the
network:

Mobile users can take important information with them so that they’re as productive as if they
were in the office—with little effort from IT professionals.
In Windows XP, Offline Files and Folders provides consistent access to network-based documents,
helping users to stay more productive whether they’re on an airplane or working at a remote site. Multiple
users can share the same files, folders, and Web sites, whether they’re connected to the network or not,
and they can easily synchronize those resources.
Offline Files and Folders allows users to take any combination of files, folders, and entire mapped drives
offline. You can right-click any network-based file or folder and then click Make Available Offline. Users
access their offline resources in the My Network Places folder, just as if they were still connected. This
means that users don’t have to look in different places for their offline resources depending on whether
they’re connected to the network or not. It also means that users don’t have to manually synchronize
offline resources, because Offline Files and Folders handles synchronization automatically.
The benefits of this feature to IT professionals are many. First, because the feature is easy to use, IT
professionals must spend less time training users how to take files offline. Offline Files and Folders is a
huge improvement over Briefcase, too, because users no longer call the Help desk requesting help to
recover files lost because of synchronization errors that naturally occur with a manual process (Offline
Files and Folders synchronizes automatically). Last, Offline Files and Folders is manageable via Group
Policy. For example, IT professionals can configure synchronization for users and can make specific
network folders available offline automatically without users needing to configure them. The bottom line is
that IT professionals can allow users to successfully take important files with them on the road without the
headaches of earlier offline technologies and with very little effort.

Windows XP Professional automatically synchronizes offline resources, ensuring that the latest
versions are always available and up-to-date.
When working with offline resources, users must update the online versions of those resources when they
reconnect to the network. Likewise, when they disconnect from the network, they must update the local
versions of those resources to ensure that they take the latest versions with them on the road.
Synchronization Manager, a feature of Windows XP Professional (shown in Figure 7), allows users to
synchronize all network resources in a single user interface. That includes files, folders, email, and
databases. You can configure it to run automatically for some or all of these resources. For example, you
can configure certain files and folders to synchronize every time users log on to or off of the network.
Because Synchronization Manager updates only changed resources, the process completes quickly. And
25
it handles the event in which multiple users change the same document intelligently. It allows users to
replace the network copy, replace their local copy, or create a second copy of the duplicate file.
Figure 7. Synchronization Manager
Users can also configure Synchronization Manager to synchronize when their computers are idle, at
regular intervals, or at scheduled times. It also allows users to synchronize resources based on their
connection types. For example, users can configure large database files to synchronize only when they’re
connected to the network using a high-speed connection.
For IT professionals, Synchronization Manager keeps offline and network versions of files synchronized
automatically instead of relying on users to manually launch the process. This takes offline technology
from a manual, error-prone process to a hands-off, robust process.

Each user’s data and settings are separate from other users’ data and settings.
Many organizations’ employees share laptop computers. Windows XP Professional supports multiple
user profiles on each machine, allowing users’ data and settings to follow them while protecting those
settings from other users. Users can configure Windows XP Professional to suit their requirements
without affecting other users.
By implementing roaming user profiles, organizations can allow users’ data and settings to follow them
26
from computer to computer. This capability is useful in scenarios in which users don’t use the same
computer each time. It also ensures that users’ important data and settings are backed up on a regular
basis.
Supporting users is easier for IT professionals when each user’s settings are in separate folders. And, by
enabling roaming user profiles, IT professionals can help their organizations save money by allowing
users to share computers and use any computer with their own settings and applications.

Users are more productive when checking email.
Outlook 2003 includes numerous improvements that reduce fatigue and make users more productive
when processing their email. For example, the Reading Pane displays more information than previous
versions of Outlook, users can quickly prioritize email by using the Quick Flags feature, and Search
Folders provide quicker access to important email messages.

Office Professional Edition 2003 enables customized solutions that mobile users can take with
them.
Support for XML in Office Professional Edition 2003 enables developers to build customized and industryspecific document solutions (or smart documents) that can help streamline processes and improve
productivity without significant employee training or downtime. With smart document solutions for
generating proposals, for example, sales teams can streamline processes and improve efficiency and
data capture. These solutions easily replace Web-based applications that require persistent online
connections.
Makes Unplugging and Hitting the Road Easier
The following list shows how Windows XP Professional makes hitting the road easier for mobile users:

Windows XP Professional makes undocking laptop computers quick and easy.
Windows XP Professional users can plug laptop computers into and out of a docking station without
changing hardware configurations or restarting the computer. This capability is especially useful because
when users move from one environment to another, they can undock the computer while applications
continue to run. The operating system automatically detects and installs new hardware when users attach
their computers to a docking station. To use this feature, however, applications and hardware must
support hot docking.

Mobile users can better manage their laptop computers’ power consumption and better forecast
how much power is left, all of which are key tools for longer and more productive work.
With ACPI, Windows XP Professional is able to manage the computer’s power state in response to input
from the user, applications, and device drivers. For example, field sales representatives using a laptop
computer for occasional note taking and looking up product information can configure the computer to
turn off the display and hard disk after a few minutes of inactivity. They can configure the computer to
stand by after a longer period of inactivity. In fact, they can often make it through an entire day of
customer calls without recharging their batteries.
Windows XP Professional builds on the Windows 2000 implementation of ACPI by offering additional
power-management features that enable the operating system to control the power used by the computer
27
as well as devices. These power-management features are useful to mobile users:

o
Processor power control. Users can configure the process to run at full speed when their computer
is using AC power but run at slower speeds when using battery power. This reduces the amount of
power consumed by the processor, extending battery time.
o
CardBus Wake-on-LAN. This technology allows IT to better manage laptop computers plugged into
corporate networks. With CardBus Wake-on-LAN, IT can wake up sleeping computers to install
software and update the operating system and then put them back to sleep.
o
Wake-on-battery. When a computer is in Standby mode while using battery power and the power
level drops too low, a wakeup event allows the system to enter Hibernation mode to preserve data.
o
Lid power and display dimming. When users close their laptop computers’ lids, Windows XP
Professional turns off the display, conserving battery power. And, when the laptop computer is
running on battery power, the operating system dims the LCD monitor. When users reconnect their
computers to AC power, the operating system returns the LCD to its original brightness.
o
Selective suspend of USB ports. Windows XP Professional can turn off individual USB ports to
save power.
Windows XP Professional significantly reduces device configuration time by making it easier to
add peripheral devices to laptop computers, even when working offline.
Users can quickly add peripheral devices to their laptop computers even when working offline. Windows
XP Professional automatically detects and installs most new and many older devices, giving a true Plug
and Play performance. Plug and Play also saves time when attaching devices such as projectors and
large monitors to laptops during a presentation.
The operating system’s support for ACPI allows the Plug and Play manager to work more reliably than
earlier Plug and Play systems. It identifies new devices and assigns them system restores as necessary.
It also automatically reconfigures resource assignments when it detects changes to the computer.
Windows XP Professional supports the USB standard, allowing users to plug USB devices into computers
without rebooting. USB devices use a standard connection cable, meaning that mobile users don’t have
to travel with a bunch of extra cables and connectors. Additionally, most USB devices receive their power
from the computer, eliminating the need to lug around extra power cords and search for power outlets.
Installing new devices doesn’t require IT professionals to touch the computer or require them to add users
to the local Administrators group either. Windows XP Professional installs device drivers with elevated
privileges as long as the device driver is signed and the device driver is local (Drivers.cab in
%SYSTEMROOT% contains most of the device drivers that ship with Windows XP, and IT professionals
can easily add third-party device drivers to their Windows XP Professional source files during
deployment).
28
Mobile Dependability
The four types of mobile users that the “Mobility Scenarios” section addresses have special requirements,
which go beyond just using the portable devices described in the “Mobility Devices” section. They include high
levels of dependability, connectivity, and productivity, which Windows XP Professional and Office
Professional Edition 2003 provide. This section describes the features that make the Windows XP
Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 combination the most dependable products Microsoft has
ever shipped.
High levels of dependability are important to mobile users for two reasons:

Laptop computers are more prone to loss and therefore prone to data theft. This scenario applies more to
road warriors and data collectors, because they spend large portions of time traveling.

Mobile users who travel frequently are physically separated from IT resources and Help desk technicians,
making them more difficult to support. This scenario applies more to road warriors, telecommuters, and
data collectors, as corridor warriors are physically located on campus.
Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 provide a more dependable desktop than
earlier versions of either product. First, Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003
enhance the security of mobile users’ laptop computers and vicariously the networks to which they connect.
According to KPMG, the security enhancements in Windows XP Professional have a value of about $106 per
user each year.
Second, Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 make mobile users more selfsupportable by reducing downtime and providing solutions to common problems that mobile users can use
without calling the Help desk. NerveWire says that Windows XP Professional fails at least 10 times less often
than Windows 98, which, for example, saves about $46 per user each year. 1 Document recovery in Office
Professional Edition 2003 increases users’ productivity because they don’t permanently lose documents when
an Office Professional Edition 2003 program crashes. Another example is Remote Assistance, which enables
Help desk technicians to reach out to mobile users remotely.
Better dependability is the most important Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003
attribute for IT professionals. While enhanced user productivity and connectivity are great benefits, and IT
professionals certainly benefit vicariously from them, enhanced dependability makes it easier for IT
professionals to do their jobs and to do those jobs better. With Microsoft’s latest desktop, IT professionals can
better deploy, support, and manage laptop computers for mobile users. And, as a result of the higher levels of
dependability and connectivity that Windows XP Professional offers, mobile users can be significantly more
productive.
This section describes the features that make the combination of Windows XP Professional and Office
Professional Edition 2003 the most secure and the most reliable versions of these products to date:

Provides tools to quickly resolve problems. Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition
2003 provide tools that make all types of mobile users more self-supporting, reducing Help desk calls and
providing a better computing experience. In the event that IT professionals still must get involved, the
tools in Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 make it more feasible to provide
hands-on assistance to users who are traveling or working in home offices.
29

Keeps confidential information safer. Road warriors and data collectors can protect sensitive
information while they travel by using the security features in Windows XP. For example, they can use
Encrypting File System (EFS) to help protect information from theft. These security settings are now
easier for the IT professional to configure and deploy than with earlier versions of Windows and Office.

Helps protects networks from malicious intruders. All types of mobile users benefit from features in
Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 that help protect their computers from
intruders and malicious code. For example, they can use Internet Connection Firewall to help protect their
computers from intruders when connected to the Internet. Also, Outlook 2003 helps mobile users and IT
professionals safeguard against malicious email-borne viruses. These features are also easier for IT
professionals to configure and deploy.
Provides Tools to Quickly Resolve Problems
The following list shows how Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 make support
easier and problems quicker to fix:

Mobile users can quickly restore their laptop computers to a previous working state after
installing an application or device driver that makes their computers unstable.
System Restore enables users and administrators to restore a computer to a previous state without losing
data. System Restore automatically creates easily identifiable restore points, which allow users to restore
their configurations to a previous state. If users experience a failure or significant problem, they can use
System Restore from Safe Mode or Normal Mode to go back to a previous configuration, restoring optimal
system functionality. System Restore does not affect specific user data or document files, so restoring will
not cause users to lose their work, mail, or even browsing history and favorites.
With earlier versions of Windows, this kind of restoration required a third-party product or wasn’t possible.
IT professionals either had to reapply a disk image, restore a backup, or spend inordinate amounts of
time troubleshooting users’ computers. IT professionals can use this feature during a support call to get a
mobile user up and running quickly, especially when the trouble arises from a recent configuration
change, dramatically reducing troubleshooting time. They can also write WMI scripts for System Restore
that can create restore points or even restore to previous states without requiring user intervention.

Windows XP Professional prevents ill-behaved applications from making users’ laptop computers
unstable.
Windows File Protection protects core system files from being overwritten by application installations. If a
file is overwritten, Windows File Protection restores the correct version. By safeguarding system files,
Windows XP Professional mitigates many of the most common failures encountered in earlier versions of
Windows.
Every IT professional knows the frustration of applications changing system files during installation and
the resulting instability that it causes. They also know how frustrating and time-consuming it is to
troubleshoot these issues. Windows File Protection eliminates this entire class of problems by watching
mobile users’ configurations to ensure that nothing changes that shouldn’t change.

Windows XP Professional prevents the installation of incompatible device drivers and allows
users to restore previous drivers if a recently installed device driver makes their computers
30
unstable.
When certain classes of new device drivers are installed, Windows XP Professional maintains a copy of
the previously installed driver, which can be reinstalled if problems occur. If a new device driver is causing
Windows XP Professional to malfunction, an administrator can easily reinstall the previous driver.
The benefits of Device Driver Rollback for IT professionals are similar to those of System Restore. IT
professionals don’t need to spend a lot of time troubleshooting to get broken devices working again.
Instead, they simply restore the previously working device driver. Figure 8 shows the Device Driver
Rollback feature.
Also, building on the device driver verifier found in Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional provides
even greater stress tests for device drivers. Device drivers that pass these tests will be the most robust
drivers available, ensuring maximum system stability.
Figure 8. Device Driver Rollback

Remote Assistance in Windows XP Professional provides an efficient way for Help desk
technicians to solve problems by remotely connecting to mobile users’ computers.
Remote Assistance enables users to share control of their computers with Help desk technicians.
Technicians can view the users’ screens and control the pointer and keyboard to help solve a technical
31
problem. IT departments can build custom solutions on top of published APIs by using HTML to tailor
Remote Assistance to their needs. And Remote Assistance can be centrally enabled or disabled. The
bottom line is that it significantly reduces the time that IT professionals spend at users’ desks.

Help and Support Center and Troubleshooting Wizards in Windows XP Professional help resolve
problems quicker and minimize mobile users’ reliance on Help desk technicians.
The Help and Support Center in Windows XP Professional represents a significant milestone in delivering
a single resource for Online Help, support, tools, how-to articles, and other resources. Extensive Online
Help is accessible via Search, the Index, or the table of contents. Plus, it’s easy to get help from an online
Microsoft support professional, trade questions and answers with other Windows XP Professional users
on Windows newsgroups, or use Remote Assistance to request help from the organization’s Help desk.
Troubleshooters help users and IT professionals configure, optimize, and troubleshoot numerous
Windows XP Professional features. They enable users to be more self-sufficient, resulting in greater
productivity, fewer Help desk calls, and better customer service.

Mobile users easily recover their documents in the event that an Office Professional Edition 2003
program unexpectedly terminates.
Office Professional Edition 2003 provides a safer method for shutting down an application that is not
responding. Users can choose to shut down a non-responsive application while initiating recovery of the
document. They can also report the problem to Microsoft or their corporate IT department at the same
time. Also, Word 2003 and Excel 2003 can automatically invoke this corrupt document repair and
recovery functionality in the event of an error or a failure to load a file. Users can also use this
functionality by choosing Open and Repair from the File Open dialog box. Recovery is automatic, so
users don’t have to call the Help desk to recover a document—it just happens.

Common problems with running Office Professional Edition 2003 programs don’t result in calls to
the Help desk.
Office Professional Edition 2003 can recognize common problems associated with booting up an
application and can automatically run the appropriate workaround. This capability enables the user to
launch the application in the event of a boot-related error, thus preventing unnecessary downtime.

You can deploy Office Professional Edition 2003 with a local installation sources, enabling selfresiliency for mobile users.
With earlier versions of Office, a mobile user who wasn’t connected to the network couldn’t repair Office
Professional Edition 2003 without access to the proper source files. This meant that a problem in the field
was often unfixable until the user connected to the network. With Office 2003 Editions, you can deploy the
product with a local installation sources, allowing users to repair their installations whether they’re
connected to the network or not. No longer will mobile users be stranded in the field without access to
their documents.
Helps Keep Confidential Information Safer
The following list describes how Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 help protect
organizations’ confidentiality:
32

Windows XP Professional helps keep confidential information safe and reduces the risk of data
theft on laptop computers and Tablet PCs.
EFS with multiuser support provides a high level of protection from hackers and data theft. EFS encrypts
each file with a randomly generated key. The encryption and decryption processes are transparent to
users. In Windows XP, EFS provides multiple users access to encrypted documents. When traveling,
users risk having their laptop computers stolen. If a laptop is running Windows XP, and all confidential
documents are encrypted, that information is inaccessible to the thief. EFS is fully manageable via Group
Policy, so IT professionals can help mobile users protect confidential information when they take it off the
network without requiring action from those users.

Windows XP Professional includes the latest security technology, enabling functionality that
helps secure organizations’ confidential information and prevents unwanted access to laptop
computers.
The Windows XP Professional Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) builds on Microsoft’s long-established
reputation for shipping robust PKI components. Windows XP Professional features and Office
Professional Edition 2003 programs that are PKI-enabled include EFS, Microsoft Internet Explorer,
Remote Access, Outlook 2003, and more. A variety of third-party applications works with Windows XP
Professional PKI.

Mobile users can help keep confidential documents secure by individually encrypting them.
Word 2003, Excel 2003, and PowerPoint 2003 feature improved password encryption options. These
applications offer the choice of using the standard CryptoAPI, a stronger encryption algorithm than
previous versions. Default encryption remains the same for backward compatibility, while the stronger
encryption is offered as a choice.

Mobile users can protect and control who can access vital business information.
Information Rights Management (IRM) is enabled by Windows Rights Management Services on Windows
Server 2003. This feature prevents or limits documents from being used in unintended ways, giving you
and your mobile users control of sensitive information. For example, you can secure company assets by
using IRM to prevent people who receive documents or email messages from forwarding, copying, or
printing them. Users can set expiration dates on documents, after which people can view or modify them.
And users can prevent other people from unintentionally changing them by using formatting and editing
restrictions. Authoring content using IRM requires Office Professional Edition 2003.
Helps Protect Networks from Malicious Intruders
The following list describes how Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 help protect
mobile users from malicious intruders:

Windows XP Professional helps prevent downtime due to viruses and intrusions by keeping the
system updated.
In Windows XP, Dynamic Update, Windows Update, and Automatic Update can help keep mobile users’
computers updated with the latest security patches, maintaining the computers’ integrity. This dramatically
reduces the amount of time that IT professionals spend deploying hotfixes and troubleshooting virus-
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related incidents.

Windows XP Professional helps protect laptop computers from unauthorized access and common
Internet-based attacks with a built-in firewall.
Internet Connection Firewall is the built-in Windows XP Professional firewall client that helps protect
mobile users from common Internet attacks. Mobile users will be able to more securely connect their
laptop computers to the Internet while traveling. Internet Connection Firewall is easy to configure, as
shown in Figure 9. It significantly reduces the amount of time that IT professionals spend managing
attacks.
Figure 9. Internet Connection Firewall

Windows XP Professional helps protect sensitive information with secure authentication, logon,
and email by using smart cards—the result is that laptop computers and the network are better
guarded against intrusion.
Windows XP Professional gives organizations the option to equip users with smart cards, which enable a
multifactor security system and make mobile computers even safer from attack. PC Card smart card
readers are available from a variety of manufacturers.

Office Professional Edition 2003 helps mobile users keep confidential and sensitive information
secure through user-level access controls and digital signatures.
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Office Professional Edition 2003 gives users the ability to digitally sign entire documents. This capability
enables users to know whether a document has come from a trusted source as well as whether the
document has been altered from its original state. Also, the security options for each application are now
available under a single tab under the Options dialog box, making it more likely that users will
successfully use these features.

IT professionals can significantly reduce the risk of macro viruses.
IT professionals can configure each Office Professional Edition 2003 program with a high security level,
which prevents users from running macros that aren’t signed by trusted sources. This and related security
features are easily configured during deployment by using the Office Professional Edition 2003 Resource
Kit’s Custom Installation Wizard. The resource kit also provides policy templates that make configuring
Office Professional Edition 2003 security policies easy.
Also, IT professionals can remove Visual Basic® for Applications (VBA) from Office installations on a
user, group, or organization-wide basis. However, without VBA, macros won’t work and users can’t install
Access 2003. This is the last-resort method for protecting mobile users from macro viruses.

IT professionals can help block email-borne viruses by using the Outlook 2003 antivirus features.
IT professionals can configure Outlook 2003 to help protect mobile users from most email-borne viruses.
First, Outlook 2003 helps block unsafe attachments by default. For example, the mail client automatically
removes attachments that have the .exe extension, as well as a large list of other extensions. This feature
is fully configurable by IT professionals at the mail server (Microsoft Exchange) or by using Group Policy.
Outlook 2003 also helps prevent programs from gaining programmatic access to users’ address books or
sending mail on behalf of users, unless they give their approval after Outlook 2003 notifies them. And by
default, Outlook 2003 doesn’t download Web beacons that spammers use to verify users’ identities.

Windows XP Professional supports wireless networking through the 802.1x security standard.
With support for the 802.1x security standard, Windows XP Professional allows users to roam from
access point to access point within their corporate network, or from hot spot to hot spot on public wireless
networks, without logging on to each access point. Windows XP Professional controls access per user
and per port, allowing for finer-grained access control and identification that enable a wide variety of
future services.

Windows XP Professional supports Wi-Fi Protected Access to increase the security of wireless
networks.
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is a replacement for Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) that provides more
robust methods for encrypting data and authenticating network connections. The result is a new level of
protection for mobile users that are taking advantage of the Windows XP Professional wireless features.
For more information about WPA, see Overview of the WPA Wireless Security Update in Windows XP.
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Summary
Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 enhance the working lives of both mobile
users and the IT professionals who support them. Mobile users get the benefit of enhanced productivity
through features such as the Office Professional Edition 2003 Task Pane and the new Windows XP
Professional user interface. They also benefit from networking connections that are easier to configure; that
connect to corporate network resources; and that they can use to collaborate with customers, partners, and
colleagues. And, because mobile users don’t always have the benefit of an IT professional onsite when
problems arise, Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 help make mobile users more
successful by making them more self-sufficient. All in all, Windows XP Professional and Office Professional
Edition 2003 are a winning combination for all types of mobile users.
Windows XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 also make IT professionals’ jobs easier. The
productivity enhancements in the pair mean that the Help desk gets fewer how-to calls and spends less time
on the phone with users. The new networking features and enhancements make configuring Windows XP
Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 for deployment easier. It also makes users more likely to
configure their network connections successfully without requiring help from an IT professional. The biggest
boon for IT professionals is the higher level of dependability that Windows XP Professional and Office
Professional Edition 2003 provide, and it comes from two key areas. First, the support tools built into both
products are much better than what was available with earlier versions. These tools not only make users
more self-sufficient but also make supporting mobile users much easier and far quicker. Second, Windows XP
Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 are the most secure and most stable products that
Microsoft has ever shipped. In both cases, this means that IT professionals can spend more time doing
important tasks and less time supporting mundane problems.
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For More Information

Office 2003 Editions

Windows XP Professional

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

Windows Mobile-based Smartphones

Windows Mobile™ 2003
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Sources

1
Higher Yields: The Financial Benefits of Windows XP Professional

2
American Institutes for Research: Office XP vs. Office 2000
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