10.1 What Is the Microsoft Smart Display?

Microsoft defines the Smart Display as a wireless touch-screen monitor that allow you to access your computer from anywhere in your home. Think of it as just your conventional LCD monitor, but with Wi-Fi built in and the ability to write on the screen directly.

On the technical side, a Smart Display uses the Windows CE for Smart Display operating system, a version based on Windows CE .NET 4.1. On the host computer, you need Windows XP Professional Edition (Service Pack 1). This is because the Smart Display makes use of Remote Desktop for displaying the output remotely, which is available in the Windows XP Professional edition but not in the Home edition. This is shown in Figure 10-1.

Figure 10-1. How Smart Display works

When you use the Smart Display to connect to the host computer, the host computer will be not be usable; only one user is allowed to use the computer at any one time. This is a limitation that Microsoft says it will resolve in the next version of the Smart Display.