If you want to make your life 1000 times easier, go get VNC for both linux and windows(very easy to find on google). The setup is simple.
VNC(for those who don't know) is similar to XDM in the fact that it relays an active connection off the machine. I'm not sure whether it does processing on the actual machine or not...but it's fast however it does it. Tunnel it through SSH with compression and it zooms.
J
|