Apple announced on Monday network management software that will help administrators remotely control systems running Mac OS X–or the Windows or Linux operating systems.
Apple Ware Remotely Controls Mac, Linux, Windows
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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The VNC client support is cool all right and I am sure it will come in handy for many, but I was really hoping for it to go the other way around, to support remote control of OS X from a Windows machine (maybe even Linux).
why do you want it to go the other way?
I just don’t see the value unless it can run applications like citrix.
VNC and rdesktop are free opensource projects and remote desktop software from Micro$oft is also free. What makes it worth it to me to pay $500 for something that I can just download off of the internet?
Can anyone who has experience with it comment on it.
Do the “other” features make it worth the price it costs beyond the remote control functions?
“VNC and rdesktop are free opensource projects and remote desktop software from Micro$oft is also free. What makes it worth it to me to pay $500 for something that I can just download off of the internet?
Can anyone who has experience with it comment on it.
Do the “other” features make it worth the price it costs beyond the remote control function”
It’s not really for controlling a single computer from somewhere else. It’s more for controlling entire networks. Like say you teach a computer class, this way you can show students how to do things on their own computer without leaving yours. Or you can admin the whole network from one place, visually, all at once.
“What makes it worth it to me to pay $500 for something that I can just download off of the internet?”
Because Apple give you techical support, Linux and Microsoft not. 🙂
The reason to pay for this is because VNC or screen sharing support is about 1/10th of what this product contains.
Take a look at the feature list:
http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/upgrade.html
ARD is way more than just the ability to control another screen. It allows you to schedule package installs of software, generate reports of all hardware components and software on your network at once, “share the screen” with users when they request assistance with something, observe multiple screens live in a security camera like mode, run shell scripts and commands on hundreds of machines simultaneously, set boot devices on hundreds of machines simultaneously, and to top it all off, it stores all of the specs it gathers from machines on your network in a SQL database, so you can turn around and write a web app to access this info.
Well, a better comparison for remote desktop would be with SMS. I think that, contrary to the product’s name, it is an over simplification to only classify it as a remote desktop client.
Thanks! I guess the name can be a little misleading. If it really is like SMS, then it sounds like a good deal!
Because I support people with Macs (and Windows…) but don’t have a Mac myself. Because the overhead of the VNC protocol is such that I would only suggest its use over a LAN, not over slower connections. More complex protocols like those used be Citrix, MS Remote Desktop and Apple Remote Desktop’s native protocol use less bandwidth. Otherwise I’d use VNC.
i have not the enterprise class experience that ard is intended for, however, i have used it a few times for the basic remote desktop functions over lower speed dsl connections (128k up..blah) and it’s performance was very appealing, everything was so smooth, it was as if i was actually in front of the machine i was controlling itself…i was thoroughly impressed and if given a choice i’d take ard over vnc anytime…
As far as I can tell, the software benefits over VNC are only for MacOSX, not windows/linux. It supports management of machines that can run a vnc server… in other words the software has a vnc client but that doesn’t mean that it can run stats, inventory, script, etc. across all of those platforms. So it looks like a good tool to manage OSX but not for other platforms.
There is Remote Desktop Client for Mac OS X, with which you can connect to Windows (XP Professional/2003 Server/etc). Considering that (you) have XP Professional at work, and Mac OS X at home (iBook) and the only thing you need is just simply using your work computer from home, then is there any need for buying the Apple Remote Desktop?
The MS one is free. Will there be any features I’ll be missing?
If you look at Apple’s website you’ll see that ARD is not a simple VNC-type application. It offers all sorts of remote administration features.
<http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop>
There are still basic remote control apps that are not much cheaper than this.
“There is Remote Desktop Client for Mac OS X, with which you can connect to Windows (XP Professional/2003 Server/etc). Considering that (you) have XP Professional at work, and Mac OS X at home (iBook) and the only thing you need is just simply using your work computer from home, then is there any need for buying the Apple Remote Desktop?
The MS one is free. Will there be any features I’ll be missing?”
Just for doing that you wouldn’t need Apple Remote Desktop.
This actually looks more like Altiris to me than anything else. It provides all the features Apple is touting for RD2 – software package pushing, asset management, remote control, and remote administration and more.
-G