Windows 7 Enterprise

Windows 7 and RDP Color Depth Setting

With Windows 7 comes Remote Desktop v6.1.7600.

I have seen a lot of posts where people want to reduce the color depth to 256 colors, which is not allowed via the Display Tab - Colors. Doing some research i found that if you have a “saved” rdp connection, you can open it in notepad and modify a specific field to allow you to run in 256 colors or 8-bit.  See below for the example text, the rest is easy

Here is an unmodified RDP File, i only included the first 4 lines, as that is all that is relevant.

screen mode id:i:1
desktopwidth:i:1152
desktopheight:i:864
session bpp:i:15

Notice the session bpp:i:15, change the 15 to an 8(as below) and save the file. Re-run the RDP connection and you will now be in 256 colors or 8-bit.

screen mode id:i:2
use multimon:i:0
desktopwidth:i:1152
desktopheight:i:864
session bpp:i:8

New SKUs and Details for Windows 7

Yikes… why cant we just have 2 versions of an OS already… here are the new SKUs

• Windows 7 Starter (limited to three apps concurrently; no Aero UI tweaks)
• Windows 7 Home Basic (only available for emerging markets; no Aero UI Tweaks)
• Windows 7 Home Premium (adds Aero, Multi-Touch, Media Center, premium games, home networks)
• Windows 7 Professional (All Premium features,RDP host, Mobility Center, Presentation mode, Domain support)
• Windows 7 Enterprise (All Pro features,volume license only, boot from virtual drive, BitLocker,Adds Branch Cache,Adds Direct Access)
• Windows 7 Ultimate (limited availability, includes everything)

Look at those limitations of each version… and the fact that Windows 7 Ultimate is going to be limited availability, what do they mean by that? Are they only going to sell it for a few months? If this sounds like a rant, it was meant to be Want more? Go to Jason’s IT Rant Blog here.