Microsoft Launches 'Remote Desktop' Apps for Mac and iOS

[Demigod Mac]

Just to make sure I understand correctly.....

- This will not work with Win-7.

- It only works over the internet, not over my home network.

Or did I get that completely wrong?

Jon...

It works with XP, Vista, 7, 8 - Professional/Business versions, not "Home" versions.

You have to enable remote connections in the System control panel on the target PC.

Also have to open port 3389 on your router and forward that to the PC's internal IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.xxx). Helps to have a static IP address assigned to the PC. Portforward.com has instructions for most routers. After that go to Whatismyip.com and get your modem's IP address, plug that in to Remote Desktop and it should work.

 

[Uplift]

Whenever i connect to my 8.1 box from my mac with this new app it absolutely kills my windows machine..

not sure if its an issue at my end, a bug in 8.1 or a bug in the app..

 

[Jon-PDX]

It works with XP, Vista, 7, 8 - Professional/Business versions, not "Home" versions.

You have to enable remote connections in the System control panel on the target PC.

Also have to open port 3389 on your router and forward that to the PC's internal IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.xxx). Helps to have a static IP address assigned to the PC. Portforward.com has instructions for most routers. After that go to Whatismyip.com and get your modem's IP address, plug that in to Remote Desktop and it should work.

Thanks for the info.

Since I have Win-7 Home Premium I guess it would not have worked anyway.....bummer. Guess I'll have to run Windows under a VM or or just keep switching over to the Win box like I have been doing for the few programs that do not run under OSX.

Jon...

 

[fongkahchun86]

But can you access a Remote Desktop of a Windows PC that's actually served through a Virtual Machine on your Mac? Would love to be able to do this from my iPad to use Windows 8 since it's pretty good for touch based devices.

Yes you can. I managed to solved it few hours ago. If you are using Parallel Desktop, the steps are as followed:
----------------------
On Parallel Desktop
----------------------
1) Go to the Menu Bar, select "Devices" > "Network 1" > "Bridged Network" > select "Airport" if your Mac is connected wirelessly, else select "Ethernet".
* The default is "Shared Network", which give your Windows a weird local IP address.
2) Check your local IPV4 address by either way:
(i) - Start > Command Prompt
- Type "ipconfig"
- The IPV4 address should looks like 192.168.0.xxx
-- or --
(ii) - Go to "Control Panel" > "Network and Internet" > "Network and Sharing Center"
- Click on the link "Ethernet", and Ethernet Status window will appear.
- Click on the "Details..." button.
- Look at the IPv4 Address that looks like 192.168.0.xxx

----------------------------------------
On iOS Remote Desktop Client App
----------------------------------------
1) Tap on "New Remote Desktop"
2) Type your IPv4 address into the "PC name".
3) Type your username & password without domain. *The Domain name will be added automatically.
4) Save the credentials and setting.
5) You may be prompt with message of server certificate that does not match the computer... Just choose "Connect always" since it is pretty safe.

***NOTE***
* You may need to configure your port forwarding on your router to the Parallel Desktop IPv4 address (port 3389).
* You also need to enable "Remote Desktop Connection with Network Level Authentication (recommended)"

 

[newagemac]

Yes you can. I managed to solved it few hours ago. If you are using Parallel Desktop, the steps are as followed:

Thanks! Just what I was looking for except I'll be doing it with VMware Fusion. Was thinking about switching to Parallels though so now might be a good time.

 

[Carl Sagan]

The Mac version is great and so much better than the previous version. The iPad version blows all those other pretenders to the throne out of the water too!

 

[roadbloc]

How do I capture screenshot on the Windows remote desktop using MAC OS ? In another word, which is the keyboard combination for PRINTSCREEN key?

Use the Snipping Tool.

 

[fongkahchun86]

To capture:
- whole screen: Command + Shift + 3
- small area of your screen: Command + Shift + 4
- App Windows size: Command + Shift + 4 let go, press "space bar" & a camera icon will appear. Click over the highlighted Windows to capture.
*All screenshot will appear on your desktop as PNG.

To save to clipboard, just add "Ctrl" to the above combination, & paste to any photo editing tools.

 

[Zangoose]

Does anyone know how to improve the quality of the actual remote desktop session to make what you see a lot clearer and less pixelated?

 

[petieg]

This updated RDP client is definitely an improvement over the older one but I still want a way to keep all my computers' RDP lists up to date. Hell, i'll even install SkyDrive if I have to, but I don't want to create my list more than once.

CoRD has been awesome but I abandoned it for the 2X client due to simpler printing (no more installing 'matching' drivers on the servers in order to print to your home printer, etc.).

IF you do decide top port-forward 3389 simply use the free SecureRDP to restrict times, computer names, IP address, etc. Well worth using. http://www.2x.com/securerdp/

I am a Premium subscriber to TeamViewer but I still prefer to RDP into clients' server as it is more stable and more importantly: Built In!

Couple this w/ Windows Server 2012 Essentials w/ the RD Gateway and you instantly have RDP access for all of the your users to their work computers. Now they can stay home but yet still work when they're sick!

 

[H2SO4]

When is Apple going to stop playing around with "Back to My Mac" and finally release an iOS app? COME ON!

This!

The one single reason i've not bought an iPad yet. Want to be able to leave my desktop where it is and take my virtual MacPro around inside my iPad.

 

[jagooch]

I see nothing here that would draw me away from using TeamViewer, which is free for personal use and works with Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Ubuntu, iPhone, iPad, etc. It's very secure and quite simple to set up and use (no messing around with ports), which comes in handy if providing remote support to those who aren't very computer literate. You can talk them through the setup on their end and be connected to them in less than a minute.

I see no advantage at all in using a Microsoft product for this.

I guess if you don't mind opening your ports up to the world, Team Viewer would be easier to set up. I like having several layers of protection, so I have a 2 firewalls + VPN on the home network that my computer/phone has to get through before I can open an rdp connection to computers at home.

So far I've had good luck with this product. It connects to my Win 7 and Win 2008 Server systems fine...and it's free! I was using Jump on my iPhone, but I'm going to install and try this on it next.

Btw they've fixed all of the display issues in the latest release.

Tbh, I am very surprised that MS even created a Remote Desktop client that runs on the competitor's OS. I guess times are changing

 

[GGJstudios]

I guess if you don't mind opening your ports up to the world, Team Viewer would be easier to set up.

You don't have to open any ports for TeamViewer that aren't already open in normal use. You also don't need any special firewall configuration.

Which ports are used by TeamViewer?
In general, TeamViewer will always work if surfing on the Internet is possible. Hence, no firewall configuration is required. As an alternative to port 80 HTTP, port 443 HTTPs is also being checked. In addition, it is also possible to open only port 5938 TCP on the outgoing side. Data traffic should then be able to pass through on this port without any problems.

 

[Jamalmartinez]

I just installed it and tried it for my iPhone. I'll be sticking with alternatives for RDP. It was not very user friendly.

Thanks for the heads up

 

[nicroma]

Thanks for the heads up

There have been some updates since my original statement. Mouse control is much better now.

 

[Carl Sagan]

This really is working very well indeed. Now I have the best of both worlds: access to my work server and files but no compromise on hardware and experience will doing personal computing!