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Free Remote Access Tools For Windows and Mac Compared

Posted by timothy on from the wish-you-were-here-printing dept.

snydeq writes "InfoWorld's Keith Schultz provides an in-depth comparison of seven free remote access tools for Windows, four of which offer compatibility with the Mac. 'As you read about each tool, you'll notice that I put a lot of emphasis on remote printing. I rely on remote access tools on a daily basis, and in most cases I need to be able to print to my remote PC. For someone that just wants to check their home/office email account or view documents from outside the office, all of the utilities here will work fine. But for those trying to get some serious work done, remote printing may be the deal breaker.' Many of the free tools under review offer paid or licensed versions for access to additional features."

5 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. They're all free! by ProdigyPuNk · · Score: 4, Informative
    ...Unless you want something besides a demo version.

    Many of the free tools listed here also have paid versions that offer additional features (such as support for remote printing) or licensing (extra host computers or clients). For some users, the paid version will be the only true option.

    ...and I was getting all excited, too. TBH, I switched to Linux a few months ago and remote administration/printing/etc is one of the pluses. It's great to be at school, think "Uh-oh, forgot that term paper," and be able to grab it off the desktop at home.

    1. Re:They're all free! by Sancho · · Score: 3, Informative

      If you can make it work at home, you can make it work at work.
      Plus you'll likely be more productive if you keep using the same environment all day.

      If I have to spend a lot of time making something work, that's not productive. On my own time, I'm allowed to be unproductive. At work, if I'm spending time fiddling around making my OS run, I'm not doing real work.

    2. Re:They're all free! by T-Bone-T · · Score: 3, Informative

      Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection is free for all Windows and Apple users and is the full version. You don't even have to install it on Windows, it already is installed(provided you have the right versions of Windows).

  2. "Screen Sharing" for the Mac by Concerned+Onlooker · · Score: 3, Informative

    For those Mac users connecting to another Mac there is always the "Screen Sharing" app located at /System/Library/CoreServices/. It's already there. It's free.

    --
    http://www.rootstrikers.org/
  3. Re:UltraVNC - Single Click by ducomputergeek · · Score: 3, Informative

    The only problem is that it's windows only. There is no UltraVNC SC for Mac/Linux users.

    Also, if your dealing with a shop that has to be PCI-DSS or as part of a PA-DSS application, the PCI folks want to see at least 256bit AES encryption. The 128-bit solution isn't enough. So far the closest we've found is Logmein and we only support clients on Windows or OSX.

    But we're looking at an NX based solution to deploy later this year or early next year which will allow us to do remote administration/maintenance for Windows, OSX, and Linux boxes.

    --
    "The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.