#1, From an earlier post on the same subject carried this week
Also, the guys writing this stuff really need to learn more about Microsoft's Rally initiative and remember the deck handed out at last year's WinHEC.
GAWD! I could just slap some people with a mouse pad some days...
older versions of Windows may not show up on the Network Map at all, or they may appear sporadically, or they may show up only after a long delay...
First, the guy is either confused, or misinformed [bad], or intentionally obfuscating the facts and misleading readers and PC users [really freaking bad].
Second, Microsoft's implementation of the LLTD uses the Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder (KB922120) available since 21 November 2006!!!!!! - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4f01a31d-ee46-481e-ba11-37f485fa34ea&DisplayLang=en
Third, the daffy bastage is confusing the presence of mixed clients within all versions of Windows' "Network" and "Network Places" - where all clients show up as they always have, with the new NETWORK MAP native to Windows Vista and patched [see above link] versions of Windows XP w/SP2
Now, to be complete, the LLTD as Microsoft has implemented it is all about a lot more than a pretty map in Windows Vista's "View Full Map" funtion in "Network." It is an extensible architecture that exposes API's to all device manufacturers and ISVs that allows them to read, share and present all kinds of advanced information about their devices - even image files to provide a rich and scalable representation of the device.
The "Responder" part of all of this is the key. The LLTD queries the device - the responder answers and provides valuable information at a glance - IPv4 and IPv6 address, MAC Address, name and anything that the dev wants to show/share about the device. The potential is enormous - consider obtaining state-full information about traffic flow on a specific port, simply by hovering over it, or re-routing network traffic away from congested segments simply by dragging clients onto another leg - it is all possible and its use is inevitable... and it is bloody well not about suggested shortcomings in Windows Vista, or interop problems as the article seems to try to suggest.
NONE of this is new - MS's LLTD was presented at WinHEC 2006 and offered support for XP, Xbox 360 and any deevice/ISV that wanted it - see the Microsoft deck presented about it here, http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/b/9/5b97017b-e28a-4bae-ba48-174cf47d23cd/NET079_WH06.ppt
This post was edited by lketchum on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 at 09:02.
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