VNC on Mac - Want to know where to start

[Knolly]

Hey all... I have a mildly ambitious plan that I was wondering what the most simple way to do it might be...

My plan is to get probably a Macbook Air and then a Hackintosh desktop, and what I really want to do is this:

Have the desktop hooked up to my Airport Extreme and whenever I get on the wireless network for it I can just hit a button and be using the Desktop's screen. Am I correct in saying that if I was on a wireless N network there should be virtually no delay/problem with using the desktop over VNC?

I'm here asking since I've been lead to believe that within all of Leopard's neato stuff there's some easy way to do this, but I could easily be wrong...

Many thanks to anyone that can help!

[Sky Blue]

Buy an iMac as a desktop and it's very very easy.

[matperk]

Leopard has a screen sharing feature built in. More info from apple's site:

Instant Screen Sharing from the Finder

Start an interactive screen sharing session with other Macs on your network. Just select the Mac from your sidebar and (if authorized) you can see and control the Mac as if you were right in front of it. Change a system preference, publish an iPhoto library, or add a new playlist to iTunes.

You won't have any issues over an N network...I dont' really have trouble over a G network.

[kkat69]

Am I correct in saying that if I was on a wireless N network there should be virtually no delay/problem with using the desktop over VNC?

I'm here asking since I've been lead to believe that within all of Leopard's neato stuff there's some easy way to do this, but I could easily be wrong...

Many thanks to anyone that can help!

That's the idea. For the most part it's a matter of going to finder and "Screen Sharing" click and boom you have the other desktop in a window or etc. Again though, don't expect, even over wireless N a flawless native speed but it will still be semi-ok.

Only problem is Hackintosh is not something I would suggest doing. It kinda doesn't really support Apple in anyway and probably reaffirms the need for validation with OS's like what Windows does. Plus if there's updates to assist with speed or security it's more difficult to update a hackintosh than a native Mac.

Don't get me wrong, I had a hackintosh once and it was pretty neat but let's face it, we didn't pay for the software and we basically downloaded hacked/pirated versions of the OS so it would run on SEE/Intel or AMD chipsets..... but I digress.

To answer your question rather, the delay depends on how much your streaming from one desktop to another. Even over wireless N with WPA encryption there will be SOME delay albeit not much, plus graphics support won't be that flawless. I wouldn't use it as a main source of everyday usage. Why not just use the MBA over wireless without VNC? What is the need for VNC? Please don't say to play games.

[Knolly]

Many thanks to everyone, I appreciate the feedback!

Haha, and no, the hackintosh is not to play games. The idea is to have another computer with a powerful processor to do things like video processing, etc etc on the more powerful computer. I will be using it to play games but wouldn't be doing that over VNC. Basically I want the hackintosh so I can have a nice 'n powerful processor without having to pay over $2000 or something for a Mac Pro and think I could get something just as capable as an iMac for far less.