Using Remote Desktop to connect to a Windows Server 2008 R2 session will usually result in an old looking Windows classic theme, even if the client is fully capable of displaying the Aero Glass theme. While it's not a simple option to enable, it's still possible to enable full Aero Glass support over Remote Desktop.Requirements: A Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2 client (the machine you connect from) and a Windows Server 2008 R2/Windows 7 host (the machine you connect to). The host doesn't need any special hardware requirements, as long as the client supports Aero Glass. Note that you can connect from a Vista client to a Vista host as well, but any other combination is not supported.1) First, we need to activate the Remote Desktop Services role in the Server Manager utility. To do so, open Server Manager (Start Menu > Administrative Tools > Server Manager) and click Add Roles.2) At the role selection screen, select the Remote Desktop Services role and click Next.3) At the Role Services screen, select only the Remote Desktop Session Host service, leaving everything else unchecked, and click Next.4) At the Authentication Method screen, select Require Network Level Authentication and click Next.5) Skip through the Licensing Mode and User Groups screen leaving all options by default.6) Once at the Client Experience screen, you must select all the options (Audio and video playback, Audio recording redirection and Desktop Composition). If the Desktop Composition option is greyed out, continue with the steps below anyway and then follow the instructions at the end of this article after your first reboot to enable Desktop Composition in the Group Policies. This is common on servers connected to a domain.7) Continue the wizard and complete the installation. You will be asked to restart the machine once completed, do so. Note that after the reboot, you will get a "Remote Desktop licensing mode is not configured" warning popup. Ignore it for now.8) Now we need to activate some features which are not installed by default in a Windows Server environment. Open Server Manageronce again and click Add Features.9) Select the Desktop Experience and Quality Windows Audio Video Experience features. Continue the wizard installation.10) Once the new features installed, we need to start a few services. Start Services (type services.msc in your Start Menu) and locate the service Themes. Right-click on it and select Properties.11) Change the Startup type to Automatic and then click on the Start button below. Wait for the service to start and close the window.12) Open Server Manager once again and expand the Roles item in the left sidebar, then Remote Desktop Services and click on RD Session Host Configuration. In the main screen, right-click the connection "RDP-Tcp" and select Properties.13) Navigate to the Client Settings tab. Uncheck the Limit Maximum Color Depth option as well as any options checked in theRedirection list (no checkbox should be selected). Click OK to apply.14) You can now return to the desktop, right-click and select Personalize.15) Select the Windows 7 theme under Aero Themes. You should now get the full Aero Glass experience.16) Now to fix the annoying licensing popup. Open Server Manager and click Remove Roles. On the Server Roles screen, uncheck theRemote Desktop Services role and complete the wizard. Yes, as crazy as it sounds, it will not disable Aero Glass but simply remove the role management panel, which we don't need.Note: Before connecting to a remote desktop, make sure to enable Desktop Composition (under Experience tab) in your remote desktop settings as well as 32bit colors (under the Display tab), otherwise you won't get Aero Glass even if it's enabled on the host.Manually activate Desktop Composition: If the option to choose Desktop Composition during the role installation is greyed out, you must manually activate it in the Group Policy. Open gpedit and enable the "Allow desktop composition for remote desktop sessions" policy found under "ComputerConfiguration\AdministrativeTemplates\WindowsComponents\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Remote Session Environment".Enjoy!
