[K12OSN] Logging into windows XP machines using same login as K12LTSP

[Krsnendu dasa]

A little background:

Here in New Zealand I have been using K12LTSP on recycled computers for
about six months now and it is great. I am using an AMD 2500XP desktop with
1MB RAM and 120GB SATA HD as the server. We have a small school of 50 (but
growing). So far we have had 8 clients running, but we are looking at having
up to 20 clients (5 per classroom).

Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to get some essential windows
apps(e.g. Macromedia Director based multimedia CDs distributed by our
Ministry of Education, and some educational software) running using it. 

I would have liked to run everything from one server to simplify
administration, but I haven't managed to work that out yet. I tried using
crossover office, unsuccessfully. I have considered Windows Server 2003 (we
get it for almost nothing as a school), but I am not sure if the sound works
properly using rdesktop and LTSP.
I am also considering Win4Lin, but I have not had time to test it yet. Once
again it is sound (and shockwave) that are the key issues. If anyone has any
experience using any of these solutions I would appreciate you comments.

As an immediate solution, I decided to put one windows XP workstation in
each classroom. It seems like the easiest solution, as we have the school
inspectors coming in a month's time, and as a teacher I don't have much time
to work on computer systems right now.

*********************
Specific task at hand:

I would like the kids to be able to log on to Windows XP machines with the
same password as the one they use for K12LTSP. The "my documents" folder
would be set to their home directory on K12LTSP. In this way they will be
saving all their files to the same place. (I do not want any files saved on
the local hard drive of the windows computer.)

Issues:
1. How do I set up user accounts for both WinXP and K12LTSP without having
to manually enter them twice?
2. When I map the homes directory using Samba, will all the .directories be
visible. If so how do I hide them? (When I accessed my home directory from
my WinXP laptop I had this problem but I think it is because the file
manager is set to "Show hidden files."
4. Will I need to use roaming profiles to map the "my documents" share?
3. Will I have to set up the network as a domain now, or will it still be
okay to use a workgroup as it is now? Which is better for this purpose?

Notes:
1. I am running K12LTSP with only one NIC. It seems to make samba easier to
use. I had a lot of problems trying to get it to work properly when I was
using 2 NICs. All the computers at the school are on the same subnet.
2. I also have 4 teachers laptops and 1 office desktop. These computers
would save most of their work locally, but shared files would be on the
server.