Terminal Services is a component of Microsoft Windows operating systems (both client and server versions) that allows a user to access applications or data stored on a remote computer over a network connection.

Based on the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Terminal Services was first introduced in Windows NT 4.0. The products Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 have introduced several improvements and new features. Microsoft included Terminal Services in Windows XP for the Remote Assistance feature.

Microsoft provides the client software Remote Desktop Connection (formerly called Terminal Services Client), available for most 32-bit versions of their Windows operating systems and Apple's Mac OS X, that allows a user to connect to a server running Terminal Services. Third-party developers have created client software for other platforms, including the open source rdesktop client for common Unix platforms.

Microsoft has a longstanding agreement with Citrix to facilitate sharing of technologies and patent licensing between Microsoft Terminal Services and Citrix MetaFrame. In this arrangement, Citrix has access to key source code for the Windows platform enabling their developers to improve the security and performance of the Terminal Services platform. In late December, 2004 the two companies announced a five-year renewal of this arrangement to cover the upcoming release of Windows Longhorn.

See also

• Apple Remote Desktop
• Citrix MetaFrame
• Independent Computing Architecture (ICA)
• Virtual Network Computing

External links

• Windows 2000 Terminal Services - promotional material from Microsoft
• Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services - promotional material from Microsoft
• Remote Desktop Connection for Windows Server 2003 - latest version of Microsoft's free client for Windows 95 and upwards
• Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac - Microsoft's free client for Mac OS X
• rdesktop - free open source client for Unix platforms
• Overview of Terminal Services - A high-level overview of Terminal Services technologies on Microsoft Windows platforms.
• Terminal Services Group Policy - How you can use Group Policy to manage Terminal Services environments