Unlike modern RDP, which is incredibly efficient, version 4.0 was rudimentary but functional. It allowed a server to transmit the graphical user interface (GUI) of an application over the network to a client device. The client would handle the mouse clicks and keyboard strokes, while the server did all the heavy lifting—processing the logic, managing the memory, and running the code.
With this operating system, Microsoft introduced the first iteration of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP 4.0), based on the ITU T.120 protocol suite. RDP acted as the pipeline between the server and the client device. Instead of sending heavy video data across the local area network (LAN), RDP transmitted highly efficient graphical drawing commands (such as "draw a rectangle at coordinates X, Y") and returned mouse movements and keystrokes back to the server. 3. Registry and File System Mapping
This article dives deep into the history, architecture, quirks, and lasting legacy of Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition.
: Organizations avoided massive capital expenditure by repurposing obsolete desktop hardware as thin clients, running resource-heavy Win32 applications completely on the server.
Citrix had previously created "WinFrame," a multi-user version of Windows NT 3.51. Microsoft eventually licensed the underlying multi-user technology (often referred to as "Hydra" during development) and integrated it into the NT 4.0 codebase. The result was Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition.