Eric,
Very helpful. If I may add a couple of comments before you post your comparisons off the cuff. Your research may prove me wrong.
UltaVNC (free) I found this VPN to be a bit difficult to set up.
GoToMyPC (subscription) This is the standard of Internet remote connections (or at least it came out first). Fairly pricey, but the advantage is you can connect from any computer and not just the one with the VPN.
LogMeIn (free and subscription) For remote connection only, it's free and the way to go. Can't move files, but you can email them to yourself or upload them to another site.
RDP or Remote Desktop (free, free, free) I found the article rather daunting but helpful. If you configure your hardware firewall to allow port 3389 and your computer to allow incoming remote connections, it is rather easy. Remote Desktop works better if you have a static IP (which Paul does). Without it, your ISP will continue to assign you dymanic IPs. You can, as the article does allude to, go to
www.whatismyisp.org or .com to find your IP address. So, if you suddenly can't get into the machine, then make sure you are using the correct one. If you are relying on the connection all the time, maybe go with static. If you are traversing a hardware firewall, you will need to use port redirection (some firewalls such as Linksys make this relatively easy, some such as Cisco PIX can make it rather daunting although there are probably more than a few people on here who can walk you through it).
Basically, Windows XP already has a way to connnect: Remote Desktop, which is free as stated above.
As Eric stated, you will never get the same perfomrance as being at the office; if you want that performance, then you will have to use DTO. (Drive To Office)
Also, it is not in the free version, but LogMeIn has this feature called LogMeIn Transmission or something like that. One click and you're in (about three seconds).
RDP is very much the same, and you can enter your credentials for logging in at the remote computer so you enter seamlessly with no issues.
HTH.
Thanks Eric.
