Apple Remote Desktop 2?

[MacRumors]

According to ThinkSecret (http://www.thinksecret.com/news/remotedesktop2.html), Apple is developing an update for Remote Desktop (http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/).

The updated utility is said to include Task Lists,CLI configuration utilities, improved reporting system, VNC support, and more.

No timeframe is provided for the release of the new version.

Apple Remote Desktop was first released in March 2002 (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2002/03/20020314190603.shtml).

[jsw]

This sounds great. Truly.

What I'd really like, though, is a much cheaper version for home use. I've got several Macs on the network, and I'd like to get ARD, but it's too expensive. Businesses can afford it, but a lot of home owners can't (or, at least, the benefits don't justify the cost).

And, yes, I know there are other options, but I'd prefer ARD (or ARD "lite"). It'd be even better if it was built-in for use with, say, up to 3 or 4 Macs. That would, I think, provide incentive to buy more than one Mac for the home. At least it'd be one more item in the "look what you get with your Mac" software list.

[whfsdude]

VNC support! I wonder if it would be just for the admin or the client. Because if it is both that would make it MAC <> PC so you wouldn't be restricted to one platform :-)

[Stella]

Shame remote desktop doesn't come free with the consumer version of osx (i.e., non server). Would be extremely useful..

[klanda]

Home-use pricing!!!! Please !!!!one!!!

Let me do tech support for relatives and friends from my couch! Don't make me go to my parents' house!

K

[Les Kern]

I want it now.
I'm upgrading the entire high-school next year (using Panther, of course) and ARD is an excellent tool. Between that and MacAdministrator (the single-most important Mac security product there is, period) I don't believe we'd have the success we've had.

[Doctor Q]

I'm wary of installing an ARD update while school is in session. The last update we did put us out of business for many days. The updated version didn't work with our software configuration, and the uninstall/downgrade process didn't work to revert us to the old version until we figured out to erase certain files by hand. So thanks for the improvements, Apple, but we won't upgrade until the end of the school year.

[Koodauw]

What features does Apple Remote Desktop give you over a program like VNC? and the mentioned ARD. I've only used VNC a few times.

[AirUncleP]

Anyone who was around when Network Assistant was first introduced remembers what a great program that was for schools. RD is solid and I'd love to see what improvements they can build in.

[Dippo]

VNC support! I wonder if it would be just for the admin or the client. Because if it is both that would make it MAC <> PC so you wouldn't be restricted to one platform :-)


Windows XP Pro does come with Remote Desktop that works pretty well. If one could log on to the Windows Machine with a Mac and vice versa, that would be great! But Alas, I don't see it happening anytime soon.

[Palad1]

Windows XP Pro does come with Remote Desktop that works pretty well. If one could log on to the Windows Machine with a Mac and vice versa, that would be great! But Alas, I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Control a PC From a Mac:

PC: install Remote Desktop Connections on XP or Terminal Services on 2K
Mac: fink the oss tool called rdesktop . works on linux/solaris/aix....


Control a Mac from a PC

PC: VNC Client
Mac: VNC Server



Now, if only Mac had a server supporting RDP.. VNC is really starting to show its age. Even on a LAN remote X is wayyyyy faster :/

[Tulse]

For home use, there's Teleport (http://www.abyssoft.com/software/teleport/). It's free.

[Glial]

Control a PC From a Mac:

PC: install Remote Desktop Connections on XP or Terminal Services on 2K
Mac: fink the oss tool called rdesktop . works on linux/solaris/aix....


Actually just install RDC on the Mac also. Free download from MS.

:/

[jsw]

What features does Apple Remote Desktop give you over a program like VNC? and the mentioned ARD. I've only used VNC a few times.

I'm not sure if I'm misreading your post (likely) but ARD refers to Apple Remote Desktop (and possibly other things - but I used it to refer to Apple Remote Desktop). They're the same thing.

[greenstork]

Control a PC From a Mac:

PC: install Remote Desktop Connections on XP or Terminal Services on 2K
Mac: fink the oss tool called rdesktop . works on linux/solaris/aix....


Control a Mac from a PC

PC: VNC Client
Mac: VNC Server



Now, if only Mac had a server supporting RDP.. VNC is really starting to show its age. Even on a LAN remote X is wayyyyy faster :/

You don't have to fink anything to control a PC from a Mac. Microsoft was nice enough to make a program for us Mac users. Apple could learn from this:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/otherproducts/otherproducts.aspx?pid=remotedesktopclient

[MacSlut]

I just hope they keep OS 9 support. I have a few OS 9 dependent machines that I use for Webservers, a TV, and verifying OS 9 stuff on. Instead of keeping monitors and keyboard hooked up to these, I just Remote Access into them. My biggest fear is that RA 2 won't be compatible with OS 9 and then the current version f RA won't work with newer versions of OS X.

Of course what I would *really* love to see is the ability to remote access into my Mac from a PC. That would make going to work in the morning a little less painful.

[Tagada]

Also the format utility allows you to specify a wins server, this is not really working on our corporation. I really hope that this VNC support is going along a better WINS support accros the board :
- wins server to be secified in the connection setting like for the dns server
- url not found by the DNS, passed to the wins server allowing you to connect to a pc by it's wins name from Safari or VNC

I our corp, and many other I know, DNS are for servers, desktop machines have a wins name...

Let's hope...
(and for the love of G., please kill all those ._unvisible file when copying to a USB Flash drive or to a network drive. I am feed up of all those call to the help desk from PC users opening the wrong empty file!!! This costs us Money !!!)

[Dippo]

You don't have to fink anything to control a PC from a Mac. Microsoft was nice enough to make a program for us Mac users. Apple could learn from this:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/otherproducts/otherproducts.aspx?pid=remotedesktopclient


Oh wow, has anyone tried this??

Personally buying a cheap PC and using it through Remote Desktop might be a better idea than Emulating Windows on the Mac...

[MacSlut]

Oh wow, has anyone tried this??

Personally buying a cheap PC and using it through Remote Desktop might be a better idea than Emulating Windows on the Mac...

Yes, I use it often. It's a great way to access my PC at work, but not a great way to replace Virtual PC.

I also have a PC at home and running with 100BaseT, it's still slow enough that you would not even consider it as a Virtual PC replacement. The only exception to this would be if the software you wanted for some reason did not run on Virtual PC...BUT keep in mind the biggest problem of Virtual PC is the software writing to the graphics hardware...this is why games suck on Virtual PC....and why Virtual PC "feels" slower than it actually is...in other words if all you're doing is processing a chunk of data (like Excel), you are more likely to find it's fast enough, but if you're doing games, video or animation, it won't keep up.

Now imagine instead of emulating graphic calls you're transferring them over 100BaseT (or whatever) and then emulating them. It ain't pretty.

The opposite would be true as well. You wouldn't find PC users tapping into Macs to run FinalCut, iDVD or GarageBand, but it would very useful for simple remote access tasks.

[millarj]

Oh wow, has anyone tried this??

Personally buying a cheap PC and using it through Remote Desktop might be a better idea than Emulating Windows on the Mac...

It is. Not cheaper, but it does seem to work pretty well. If you have two displays, you can tell RDC what display to go full-screen on too. I've used it that way, as a cheaper alternative to a KVM switch. Full-motion video performance hurts though, so it's not the solution if you want to run games. Faster network connection between the two machines doesn't hurt either. I run them side-by-side connected through a 10/100 switch.

[Hemingray]

This sounds great. Truly.

What I'd really like, though, is a much cheaper version for home use. I've got several Macs on the network, and I'd like to get ARD, but it's too expensive. Businesses can afford it, but a lot of home owners can't (or, at least, the benefits don't justify the cost).

And, yes, I know there are other options, but I'd prefer ARD (or ARD "lite"). It'd be even better if it was built-in for use with, say, up to 3 or 4 Macs. That would, I think, provide incentive to buy more than one Mac for the home. At least it'd be one more item in the "look what you get with your Mac" software list.

Amen. If only they'd make a lite version for home use! Maybe $99. I'd buy that if it meant I could be on the road with a laptop and control my home Mac from the road. (Is that even possible?)

[MacUser1]

This sounds great. Truly.

What I'd really like, though, is a much cheaper version for home use. I've got several Macs on the network, and I'd like to get ARD, but it's too expensive. Businesses can afford it, but a lot of home owners can't (or, at least, the benefits don't justify the cost).

And, yes, I know there are other options, but I'd prefer ARD (or ARD "lite"). It'd be even better if it was built-in for use with, say, up to 3 or 4 Macs. That would, I think, provide incentive to buy more than one Mac for the home. At least it'd be one more item in the "look what you get with your Mac" software list.

I completely agree with you. I'd buy something like that for $99.

[GregA]

I have to say, using Microsofts remote desktop between to XP machines is VERY fast, a lot faster than pcAnywhere or Laplink. The window redraw is almost instant, graphics splash screens from apps will be slow the first time, but are cached for the next time. If you're running standard day-to-day programs over the connection (eg, running your email program from your work PC at home, or opening Word to do some word processing) it's great (I haven't tested the Mac-PC version).

The reason MS connection is fast is that all the graphical interface code is handled by the displaying machine. So the 'server' machine has a program that wants to draw a box, it just says "draw box" - the client knows what that means and draws it.

I wonder why Apple is using VNC!? Apple has it's own graphics engine and it would seem more efficient to share the desktop at a lower level. Imagine all the data needed to do the Genie-effect to shrink the window to the dock - much better to let the client do the snazzy effects and just send a higher level command ("Shrink using Genie").

It really seems to me that although VNC is an open standard (which is great), Apple will lose some of the benefits of knowing it's own graphics subsystems inside and out. Unless VNC has some new ways of doing that I'm unaware of?

[Dippo]

I have to say, using Microsofts remote desktop between to XP machines is VERY fast, a lot faster than pcAnywhere or Laplink. The window redraw is almost instant, graphics splash screens from apps will be slow the first time, but are cached for the next time. If you're running standard day-to-day programs over the connection (eg, running your email program from your work PC at home, or opening Word to do some word processing) it's great (I haven't tested the Mac-PC version).

If you think Remote Desktop between two XP machines is fast, you should try it between two 2003 Sever Machines.

I have used Remote Desktop on the Extended Desktop to emulate a "dual" system setup. It works for most everything that doesn't involve video or gaming.

It would be nice if I could hook my 2nd monitor directly up to my 2nd PC but still be able to control it through Remote Desktop...I just don't know how :confused:

[pcharles]

Take a look at Timbuktu.


This sounds great. Truly.

What I'd really like, though, is a much cheaper version for home use. I've got several Macs on the network, and I'd like to get ARD, but it's too expensive. Businesses can afford it, but a lot of home owners can't (or, at least, the benefits don't justify the cost).

And, yes, I know there are other options, but I'd prefer ARD (or ARD "lite"). It'd be even better if it was built-in for use with, say, up to 3 or 4 Macs. That would, I think, provide incentive to buy more than one Mac for the home. At least it'd be one more item in the "look what you get with your Mac" software list.

[jsw]

Take a look at Timbuktu.

Thanks! I have, and I'll probably buy it. I was just hoping for a cheap Apple version, but Timbuktu is a great product.

[ClimbingTheLog]

VNC is really starting to show its age. Even on a LAN remote X is wayyyyy faster :/

Eh? You're comparing apples to oranges. VNC is a remote frame buffer. X is a remote GUI toolkit. You're not sending pictures with X, you're sending commands. All the windowing happens locally. VNC will never be faster than X, it serves a different purpose. Comparing VNC with Apple Remote Desktop is fair. Comparing X with RDF is closer to fair. Comparing NeXT's remote postscript - oh that's just gonna make me cry.

You really ought to get a current version of VNC. With OSXVNC and Chicken of the VNC I regularly get 3-5 frames per second over Airport (b) between two G3's. And they don't even support tightvnc encoding yet. On a hundred megabit with a couple fast macs you should be able to get as close to 30 fps as the latency allows.

[GregA]

Eh? You're comparing apples to oranges. VNC is a remote frame buffer. X is a remote GUI toolkit. You're not sending pictures with X, you're sending commands. All the windowing happens locally. VNC will never be faster than X, it serves a different purpose. Comparing VNC with Apple Remote Desktop is fair. Comparing X with RDF is closer to fair. Comparing NeXT's remote postscript - oh that's just gonna make me cry.Isn't that just the point though?

Who cares if we're comparing apple's to oranges technology wise... if 2 different technologies both allow us to take over a remote desktop, and one is alot faster, it's worth comparing.

If Apple stays with their own technology, they could make it very fast - best case scenario using something based on their own (NeXT's) remote postscript. If they go VNC they are embracing open source etc, at the cost of speed... aren't they?

[Palad1]

Isn't that just the point though?
That was my point, all I am asking for is some kind of remote admin tool using a GUI.

Of course with remote X I won't be able to take over someone else's desktop and show him/her what to do, but the vnc latency is so annoying (not mentionning the redraw problems, especially when there is a swing app somewhere).

But, hey.. VNC2 ! sounds better than VNC, allright? :rolleyes:

Seriously, does anyone know which features VNC2 does offer?

[macnews]

I am looking at getting Apple Remote Desktop and was hoping some of the discussions on this thread would help make my descision, but now I have some more questions.

What does VNC do that ARD doesn't, and all these other programs mentioned? Are these mainly for mac-pc or pc-mac controlling?

All I want to do is have an easy way to manage my small lab of 30 macs. Our building configuration has part of the lab on one floor and a smaller portion on an different floor. I am hoping to avoid running between the two floors to fix problems when they arise. Is ARD the best for this? Including custom configurations, software installs, etc.

[Doctor Q]

I am looking at getting Apple Remote Desktop and was hoping some of the discussions on this thread would help make my descision, but now I have some more questions.

What does VNC do that ARD doesn't, and all these other programs mentioned? Are these mainly for mac-pc or pc-mac controlling?

All I want to do is have an easy way to manage my small lab of 30 macs. Our building configuration has part of the lab on one floor and a smaller portion on an different floor. I am hoping to avoid running between the two floors to fix problems when they arise. Is ARD the best for this? Including custom configurations, software installs, etc.In our lab (34 iMacs, teacher Power Mac, and a server), we haven't tried any software other than Apple Remote Desktop, but it does what we need, including letting the teacher take over a student's screen, letting a teacher broadcast her screen to students, putting a message box on student's screens, checking the status of students without having to observe screens one by one, checking software configurations, and generating various reports. We haven't used the features to install or update software from afar. In any case, this is a lot more than just remote control of another Mac's screen.

[JLL]

Yes, I use it often. It's a great way to access my PC at work, but not a great way to replace Virtual PC.

I also have a PC at home and running with 100BaseT, it's still slow enough that you would not even consider it as a Virtual PC replacement.

There must be something very wrong with your setup (or you're running VPC on a 1,100 DP G5 cluster ;)). MS RDC is very fast, and even over a 512K DSL you only see a small lag.

[cesar]

- Cross-plataform Support for Apple Remote Desktop, that will be great!! manage Unix, linux, windows and macs from a mac!! that will be cool!! include feature of ximian redcarpert and Microsoft SMS. Install a small and free client on the UNix, linux and windows boxes, so ARD can talk with them...

- for iChat: Multi-user videoconferencing. That will be great. Maybe right now in Apple's ToDo list.

- I would like iChat to add T.120 protocol support, talks with netmeeting, sgimeeting, SUNforum and so on... a free or paid patch to iChat. Like iChatPro or RemoteDesktop Express

- Also, a new feature to the Macos X server: create a iChat-connect-server. I know that the Rendezvous buddy-list, but I think It will be more pro if a small office can have a iChat-connect server (like netmeeting directory).