"What's the big deal?" you ask. "NetMeeting has been around a long time and Microsoft has never ended up in court over it." True, but with WM, Microsoft forces users to use Microsoft's Passport service for authentication. The Exchange 2000 IM server can be used with Passport, but Passport is required to use WM--this is a bad thing.
To put the problem into a broader context, XP is Microsoft's first OS to include pieces of its new .Net architecture (see www.nwc.com/1205/1205f4.html). Passport is one of Microsoft's .Net services, and WM uses Passport for authentication and to manage presence information (such as a user's online status). Is this the hook Microsoft plans to use to catch you in its fee-based .Net services? Is WM the shot in the arm Passport needs to establish critical mass as a commercial endeavor?
Note that WM isn't compatible with NetMeeting or other H.323 conferencing systems and that WM is available only on XP, not Windows 2000 and not 9x. Those issues and more are being and will continue to be examined by the legal system, but they are just as critical to ponder as you begin to digest the features and functionality of Windows XP for your own corporate/SOHO (small office/home office) use.
Just Like a Phone, but Better
A killer app is a big deal, and yes, we think Windows Messenger may be one. XP already supports unifed messaging, it's as easy to set up and use as AOL's Instant Messenger (AIM), voice quality is very good, and the video is OK. The timing is right with audio built into virtually every computer, USB-based video available for a song and a dance, and high-speed Internet connections for home users becoming ubiquitous. Add to that excellent OS support for multimedia devices and the inclusion of a bevy of real-time collaborative features, and you have a recipe for success. As a corporate tool for communication, collaboration and remote-user support, WM provides the added incentive of telephone-like ease of use. We think consumers will be the early adopters of WM, as they were with AIM, and corporate users will tag along as all those 13-year-olds continue to teach us old dogs new tricks.
A new Windows XP installation begins to "help" you as soon as you log into it for the first time. Balloon dialogs tell you that your screen resolution isn't optimal and that XP is going to fix it for you. The system also tells you that an XP tour is available and that you need to create a passport account to use WM, among other things. Grizzled computer veterans hate this, but think about your users and you'll agree that an application should be as helpful as possible. Click on the passport balloon and a wizard asks if you have an e-mail address or if you'd like to get a new one through MSN.com. Your e-mail address is your Passport user ID.
To give you a feel for the usability that Microsoft has built into WM, we'll walk you through the interface. After you sign in, you'll enter an application that looks very similar to AIM. The WM window has three buttons: add, send and call, which let you add a contact, send an instant message or establish a voice conversation. The window also displays presence information about your contacts. Once you open an IM window, you get buttons to start video, to send a file, to invite others to start application sharing, to start remote assistance and to start a whiteboard session. IM sessions can be one to one or one to many. The other features are one to one only.
The voice, video, application-sharing, remote-assistance and whiteboard features are revolutionary given the simple, single interface that ties them together. Starting an application-sharing session is no more difficult than establishing an IM session, plus you can annotate the session by talking to the user on the other end using the same Internet connection. Look for additional functionality from third parties due to WM's reliance on SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). For example, SIP-to-PSTN gateways will let you place a WM call to a person using a standard phone or cell phone.
The quality of our experience when testing WM between our cable modem-connected workstation in the SOHO and the corporate computer on the campus LAN was impressive. Voice quality was especially clear--easily as good as a clean phone connection. We asked Microsoft about this, and officials said they've "implemented a number of improvements to voice: siren codec, dynamic codec selection, dynamic jitter buffers, forward error correction and acoustic echo cancellation." Video rates are up to 12 frames per second--a bit jerky, but usable.
The application-sharing screen updates are fast. Control of the application can be passed between the users. Tech support can take complete control of a user's desktop via WM's Remote Assistance and talk users through difficult operations.
Fewer Hurdles
Seems that you can't have an application discussion without including a primer on security and firewalls. Remember WM uses SIP instead of H.323. And SIP is new, which means there aren't many products out there that use it, so not many people are bugging vendors about providing SIP support. And since the squeaky wheel gets the grease, vendors are only now starting to look at providing SIP support--mainly because of the pending release of XP. That's a problem for WM users on the opposite side of most firewalls. If you look at the firewall configuration screen of your favorite SOHO gateway, you'll no doubt see built-in support for H.323. Without it, H.323 conferencing would not work in a "NAT'd" environment. It's the same with SIP--without an upgrade, current SOHO gateways won't be able to deal with the combination of NAT (Network Address Translation) and SIP's use of dynamic port allocation.
From a security standpoint, the issues surrounding SIP are the same as those surrounding H.323. If you plan to use these types of products you should do so with your eyes wide open. The SANS Institute offers a good primer on H.323 and firewalls.
We tested WM in a typical telecommuting scenario, a NAT'd Windows XP computer behind a firewall/gateway at the SOHO connecting to a colleague behind the corporate firewall. It didn't work even though there weren't any access restrictions on either firewall that stood between the two PCs. Now go tell your typical SOHO user to fix it. To them it is rocket science.
We called Microsoft and our SOHO firewall/gateway vendor, SonicWall. Officials at both companies told us what we already knew: It doesn't work. But they added the magic word--yet. Microsoft is working with residential gateway vendors to make sure they are aware of the issues surrounding SIP support, and the vendors are working to build patches and firmware updates that provide the same support for SIP they already provide for H.323. WM can use a proxy connection via HTTP or Socks with reduced functionality, but this is like eating low-fat food: The experience will leave you wanting more. With a little work on your part, there's no reason your users can't feast.
Microsoft is also working with the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Forum to help establish PnP support between XP and residential gateway products. In other words, the gateway will configure itself automatically to support WM--won't that make your support personnel and SOHO users happy! D-Link will support UPnP for XP and WM in its two newest residential gateways, the DI-714 and DI-804, via firmware updates that the company promises to make available by the time XP ships. Arescom, Buffalo Technology, Intel, Linksys and NetGear will also offer residential gateway product support for UPnP.
XP also has built-in Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), which was first released in Windows 98 Second Edition and a new software-based firewall that supports SIP. Nevertheless, we recommend you implement a hardware-based residential gateway/firewall device from a vendor that specializes in firewall implementations.
To help corporations understand the issues, Microsoft also has plans to release a white paper that covers configuration issues with popular residential gateways. Check with your residential gateway vendor, search the Microsoft KnowledgeBase and make sure you understand the security issues before you travel to this brave new world.
Ron Anderson is a senior technology editor of Network Computing. Before joining the staff, he managed IT in various capacities at Syracuse University and for the Veteran's Administration. Send your comments on this article to him at randerson@nwc.com.
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