I work at home, and I do most of my writing and testing with a network of three PCs, two desktops in my office downstairs, and the laptop I roam the house with. Each of the desktops runs certain applications that none of the other computers do.

Unfortunately, this often means that when I'm kicking back on the couch upstairs, a sazerac cocktail in hand, I have to drop everything to run downstairs and hit a few keys on one of the desktops. Not only is this a waste of time, it leads to a lukewarm cocktail.

I've long used GoToMyPC to control computers remotely, but it never really made sense to spend $200 a year just so I could control a computer in the same house. So lately I've been tinkering with Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop, a free application that's part of Windows XP Professional and Media Center.

As remote control applications go, Remote Desktop is quite simple, but there are a few tricks to master (the trick is you have to manually type in the name of the host computer the first time you connect). Luckily, Microsoft has an uncharacteristically good walkthrough on how to set it up. Just head on over to the introduction page and in half an hour you'll be living the remote control dream.