Because of space constraints, I will not be covering the non-Windows versions of the client. Therefore, this book will focus on using the 4.6 Windows client and I'll point out differences between the 3.x and 4.x clients as I proceed through the chapter. The GUI interfaces between the two are different however, how you perform tasks within each client is very similar. There are two basic versions of the Cisco software client for Windows: Versions 3.x and 4.x. The following sections will discuss the features and installation of the VPN Client for Microsoft Windows. Other VPN connection methods, such as PPTP, L2TP/IPsec, and WebVPN, are not supported with Cisco VPN Client software. Supported servers include the VPN 3000 series concentrators, IOS-based routers, and PIX and ASA security appliances.
The Cisco VPN Client uses IPsec to establish a remote access VPN session to an Easy VPN Server using Cisco Easy VPN technology. Of the four, the Microsoft and Macintosh clients support a graphical user interface (GUI) the other two use a command-line interface (CLI). The Cisco VPN Client is a VPN remote access client that runs on Microsoft Windows PCs, Linux PCs (Intel-based), Macintoshes (Mac OS X), and Sun UltraSPARC workstations (Solaris).
