I'm thinking about setting up an older board I have as a print and file server. I also use a MagicJack for a phone in my office and want to convert my main machine to Linux. So I was thinking why not run XP "headless" and keep the MJ plugged into the file/print server. I know XP Pro (what I have) can run headless, but I'm not familiar with rinning something like VNC. My understanding so far is that VNC on the WinXP machine would allow someone to log in over the network connection and control it. I know I'd need a keyboard and monitor to set the XP system up. Can I run a VNC program on my Linux machine (linux Mint 11, specifically) and control the XP box though??

Don't bother with VNC, just use rdesktop (or similar under Mint). XP Pro can support a few (non-concurrent?) Terminal Server sessions, and since you're headless you don't need VNC to _share_ a desktop, just get a new login and go. This is what I do at work and home. ;v)

ditto on the rdesktop. There were some third party software programs that was available to allow additional rdp connections.

Okay, so I get rdesktop for Linux.... what do I run on the XP machine? My guess is I just activate Remote Desktop (or whatever it is) in XP and use a user log-on to get in from Linux??

RDesktop connects to XP Pro (and Vista, 7, etc.) through Microsoft's Terminal Services, which are already running on the XP machine.

So, you'll RDesktop into the XP machine. The XP machine will present you with the normal XP login in the RDesktop window. You'll log in to the XP machine with a userid and password already set up on the XP machine.

In other words, you're exactly right!