Windows 7 has introduced a feature called HomeGroup that helps connect two Windows 7 computers together. The 'host' machine creates a unique pass phrase that must be typed into the 'client' machine in order for the two machines to talk to each other.

When Vista came out, XP couldn't connect to it due to updates in networking. So what does Microsoft do with Windows 7? Windows 7 doesn't work with Windows Vista... Windows 7 talks with Windows 7 easily with HomeGroup. You can access Vista shares with Windows 7 and XP shares with both Vista and Windows 7. The following tutorial will show you how to share files and printers between Windows 7 and XP (or Vista)