Windows Vista Aero is a feature that allows users to see the desktop in a different color when they open a program or document. This feature is useful for people who want to see the desktop in a different color when they are working on a computer that has an AMD or Intel processor. To use Windows Vista Aero through Remote Desktop Connection, you first need to create an account with your Microsoft account and then set up your remote desktop connection. You can use the following steps to set up your remote desktop connection:

  1. On your computer, open the Start menu and type “rdc”. This will take you to the “Remote Desktop Connection” window.
  2. In the “Remote Desktop Connection” window, click on the “Create New Connection” button.
  3. In the “Name” field, type “WDC_RDP”. In the “Description” field, type something about how you plan to use Windows Vista Aero through Remote Desktop Connection. For example, you might say that you plan to use Windows Vista Aero through Remote Desktop Connection to see the desktop in a different color when you open programs and documents.
  4. Click on the “Create New Connection” button and then click on the " OK “. The remote desktop connection will be created and will be listed in your list of connections under “Connections”.

To make this work, you’ll have to make sure that you meet the prerequisite conditions.

Both systems have to be running Windows Vista The system you are running Remote Desktop client on must already have Aero enabled. The remote system must have at least 512mb of RAM, and be an Enterprise or Ultimate version of Vista.

If you meet these conditions, you should be able to use the Aero interface through the remote desktop connection. I don’t have a screenshot right at this moment, but I’ll try and get one soon.

The one question I can’t answer quite yet is if you can use Aero on a client machine to a machine that can’t run Aero because of video card requirements. If you know if this is possible, let me know in the comments.

This will theoretically work when connecting to a Windows Longhorn server as well, although I have not tested it out.