Getting What You Ask For with Windows XP Professional's Make New Connections Network Wizard
A Wizard for Every Occasion
Microsoft's reliance on wizards continues in Windows XP Professional, with nothing short of six different wizards for connectivity-related tasks. What's confusing is that there is an Internet Connections Wizard and a Networking Connections Wizard—both of which use the same pages or screens for fulfilling their tasks. There's also a Home Networking Wizard that lives up to the billing of a wizard because there are six options on its introductory screen and then a mysterious passing of icons with no explanation of what is happening. Are the icons representing a DHCP server install for quick IP connections? I combed over the Microsoft site and even emailed a question, and no one I ran into knows what's going on behind that mysterious Home Networking screen of passing icons, either. From previous experiences with RC1 and seeing the Internet Connections Wizard freeze halfway through a connection through a typical IP-based network, I decided to try RC2 on a dual-processor workstation that had an SMC card installed. Results: The Network Connections Wizard worked with the SMC network interface card this time, and even worked to the point of defining a VPN connection.