preferably a freeware one. i'm trying to get a shared X desktop working. apparently most (if not all) vnc clients for windows are $hareware or crippleware. i'm still trying to read through all of the info on setting up the linux end of the process as well. i am kind of limited for space in a small apartment, and would like to minimize my tying up an end of the kitchen table with the keyboard and monitor for my linux box.

Do you mean X server instead of X client? If so a search for "windows x server" on google turned up a bunch. At the top of the list was one called xming. I can't vouch for it since I no longer have a use for X servers on windows. In the past I used a commercial X server called Hummingbird. Worked well.

Another approach is to use software to create a virtual machine on your windows box and run a Linux distro. Then you'd have an X server and a bunch of clients!

(Aside: Macs come with an X server that runs in their gui.)

Let us know if you check out xming. http://sourceforge.net/projects/xming

Yup Xming is definitely very good choice, lightweight and minimum configuration (especially with putty).

But if you are planning to run the entire desktop on windows, its doesn't work that well. (Is there a really valid reason to run the whole desktop ?) If you want the desktop I guess x11vnc is the way to go.

Going from Windows to a linux server, I have cygwin installed on the Windows box, which connects (from an Xwindows session) via ssh to the Linux server that has X11 forwarding enabled. This allows for a GUI application on the Linux server to be run.
Going from any to Windows, I have RealVNC installed on the Windows box, which can be acccessed using any web browser.

I have Cygwin/X on windows machines as well. "Cygwin/X" is the download to install cygwin with an xorg server. I'm not certain if Cygwin/X supports 64bit Vista however.

Another option is Xming. http://sourceforge.net/projects/xming

There is also virtualization.