Today's networks team with an ambitious assortment of systems and devices, and if all these entities didn't need to communicate, we wouldn't call it a network. As much as you might hope for a world with no Windows, you probably won't find it anytime soon. This month, we feature some studies in interoperability and system integration. In our lead article, we examine some tips for connecting Linux VPN clients to Windows servers.

We'll also show you some Linux client applications for managing VPN connections, and we'll describe some troubleshooting tips for getting Linux to work with the PPTP protocol used on Windows networks. In the next article, we look at how to integrate Linux systems with the Microsoft Active Directory environment using the Likewise Open authentication system. Likewise is an open source tool that provides easy configuration for single sign-on and Kerberos authorization. The last article shows how to configure Linux as a terminal server for Windows terminal clients using xrdp – an open source implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). You will learn why you don't need Windows to support a Windows terminal environment and how, with just a few easy steps, your users can view the Linux desktop from their Windows systems.

That rounds out our cover story set for this month, but if you want a tantalizing a look at the integration of tomorrow, flip ahead to our feature article on the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) standard, which supports seamless connections of computers, peripherals, household gadgets, and mobile devices. We'll examine the open source BRisa framework that brings UPnP to Linux, and we'll even show you a sample multimedia application based on UPnP.

Other feature articles look at the Open Source Job Scheduler, add-ons for Thunderbird, the tiny SliTaz Linux distribution, iTalc classroom management software, and more.

If you need to live with Windows, why not live in peace and comfort? We hope you enjoy this month's Integration cover story.