iMac software development and Remote desktop

[megabyzus]

I am new to Apple systems and plan to purchase my first iMac imminently to start iPxD app development. I will often not be home and can only tap into my iMac (in sleep) remotely ad wake it up from my Win 7 PC from anywhere proceed to access it as if I were sitting right next to it.

How reliable and viable are the various 'free' or existing solutions to do this? Are there any suggestions/recommendations on the software that is best recommended to enable this mode of work? Obviously I am looking for reliability and consistency. Any additional thoughts appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[VPrime]

I did this for 2 months last year while I was in Germany.
I woke up the computer every time. Only issue I had was when the power went out, and the imac didn't turn back on.
But once I called home to get it back on no issues.

 

[megabyzus]

Thanks! What software did you use? Also did you do this from within a fast environment or from public places like coffee shops or both? Any issues with 'speed' and efficiency, etc?

Thanks!

 

[r0k]

I have used back to my mac ( a feature of Mobile Me that probably doesn't continue with iCloud) to use my Mac from the Apple store and get tech support from an Apple genius working on my Mac while it was still sitting on my home network.

Recently, with the upgrade to Lion, a lot of third party VNC solutions became broken. During my quest to find one that worked, I got splashtop. It seems that Splashtop allows you to connect back to your Mac over the internet but I haven't tried this feature.

When I first got a Mac, I used it "headless" and used various freeware Windows VNC clients to work on my Mac. Gradually I realized I liked it so much I got rid of Windows entirely and now all the machines in our house are Macs.

 

[megabyzus]

So should we expect more compatibility difficulty with Mountain Lion? Does anyone else have any experience with ongoing software development on a iMac that is remotely tapped into by a WinPC?

 

[NewbieCanada]

LogMeIn works... decently and is free. But most of my remote stuff is Mac logging in to Windows PC with Microsoft Remote Desktop, or Mac logging into Mac with Screen Sharing.

 

[VPrime]

If you enable screensharing on your mac, you can use any VNC program to get in as long as the ports are open.

I was connected using a 3G internet usb stick from o2 wireless. It was pretty good once I lowered the graphic settings and increased compression.

 

[megabyzus]

Any comments on 'Wake on Lan (WOL)' and how reliable the iMac is in this regard? IDEALLY, i would like to shutdown the iMac and be able to start it up from outside my network and then gain access to the screen and develeop software on it as if I were sitting right next to it. Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[megabyzus]

Any comments on 'Wake on Lan (WOL)' and how reliable the iMac is in this regard? IDEALLY, i would like to shutdown the iMac and be able to start it up from outside my network and then gain access to the screen and develeop software on it as if I were sitting right next to it. Thoughts?

Thanks!

Bump!