OFSO,
If my memory serves me right you can edit the devices in Control Panel -> System & Maintenance -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management. There you will find a Logical Disk Manager that lets you work with the mapped drives.
I recall its in XP, it's certainly in Vista and Win 7. I used it the other day as I have an external disc drive with my MP3s on it, and Win 7 decided to change the mapping which messed up media player. I went there & was able to change the drive mappings, get rid of a mapping from an old USB stick etc
MTK - agree with you on the desktop Linux front. Just migrated my PC from Linux Mint 8 Gnome to Linux Mint 9 KDE edition. Devices just plug in & work now, same for networking & sharing with Windows machines.