Remote access program

what is VNC? I thought that windows had a built in remote access program that allowed people to connect to a computer to let a tech support person log into a computer. I was looking for a little more than file sharing because i have some utilities that i am trying to learn to use and i figured this would be a good chance to try them out. Some of them are PStools from www.sysinternals.com, John the ripper, and cain and abel are a few of them. I know i dont really need remote access to use them i just need some kind of desktop display because there is not a monitor hooked up to the computer because it is an old machine.