From the press release: “Apple today announced Apple Remote Desktop for MacOSX software, which enables users, teachers and administrators to remotely manage other Mac desktops anywhere on a local network, AirPort wireless network or across the Internet. With Apple Remote Desktop, teachers can view students computer screens, perform group demonstrations and help individuals with real-time screen-sharing, text chat and the request attention command. System administrators can provide remote assistance, get comprehensive system profiles, reconfigure system settings and quickly and easily distribute software applications across hundreds of computers all from one central location over both Ethernet and AirPort wireless networks.”
Apple Releases Remote Desktop Application
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Eugenia Loli
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I acknowledge the benefits of having the ability to administer a computer remotely, but it doesn’t sit well with me. Call me paranoid, but I don’t want the possibility of anyone access my computer remotely to even exist. With the older versions of Mac OS, remote desktop management didn’t exist, thus making Macs that much more secure. I’m sure someone will say “If you don’t like it, just don’t use it” but that never seems to stop hackers.
I saw the ad at apple site and I think it is so bad. I will never touch an apple. I don’t like people to snoop on my desk whitout me knowing it in advance. period.
Nothing that new. Looks strangely similar to Timbuktu (except Timbuktu is multi platform). Looks like apple made another long time commited developper happy ! Lets see, will I dish out $200 + for Timbuktu/ARM or will I download XVNC for free ? mmhh.
It’s hardly true that this functionality wasn’t available on previous Mac OS versions — Apple Network Administrator Toolkit 2.0, released in 1998, allowed screen sharing (aka remote desktop) and remote management.
Dork, it is a product that they are SELLING!!!
my god, don’t buy it fool.
“I saw the ad at apple site and I think it is so bad. I will never touch an apple. I don’t like people to snoop on my desk whitout me knowing it in advance. period.”
Considering the fact that WindowsNT/2000/XP all have terminal services (allows the exporting of the display to a remote computer), it’s no different with MacOS X than with Windows. Also, Mac OS X already supported remote remote logins through telnet and ssh. The same applies for any *NIX system. X11 allows the exporting of the display over the network.
You could do that even on NeXTSTEP/Rhapsody … Looks more
like Apple wants to cash in on another new (old) “invention”.
Isn’t Remote Desktop a feature of Microsoft Windows XP pro, so if Apple thinks they can emulate a XP feature- the remote desktop feature in xp pro- think again, Apple. Here’s what Microsoft says about remote desktop:
Windows XP Professional > Product Information
Revolutionizes the Way Remote Users Work
Remote Desktop Allows users to create a virtual session onto their desktop computers using the Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Allows users to access all of their data and applications housed on their desktop computers from another computer running Windows 95 or later that is connected to their machine via a network.
Fom the Microsoft Windows website
http://microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/features.asp
And this is Apple’s description:
Apple Remote Desktop with real-time screen sharing is the ideal desktop management solution for education, businesses, and professionals on the go. It gives you the power to manage Mac systems from anywhere on your network or remotely across the Internet. It can reduce administrative costs and enhance productivity in any environment.
Apple Remote Desktop enables a teacher to keep an eye on all the computer screens in a classroom or lab, distribute software upgrades, perform group demos, and provide online assistance with real-time text communications for students needing individual attention.
In a business environment, Apple Remote Desktop can reduce administration costs and enhance productivity throughout your company. It includes tools system administrators can use to assist users with problems, distribute software, and efficiently manage Macintosh systems — all from a central location, and over both wired and wireless networks. With Apple Remote Desktop you can reduce downtime and let people be more productive.
Apple Remote Desktop comes in two versions: a 10-client edition for managing up to 10 Macs, and an unlimited-client edition that allows you to install the client software on an unlimited number of computers at a single location — and to manage up to 5000 Macs at a time, in groups of up to 250 computers.
Say hello to your Mac — across the Internet
If you’re a professional who spends time on the road, Apple Remote Desktop belongs on your notebook. It’s the smart way to access the files and applications on your Mac back at the office — remotely, across the Internet.
All systems go
Apple Remote Desktop provides system administrators and support professionals with the tools they need to efficiently support their users and manage their systems. Support personnel can help individuals quickly and easily by viewing their screens, or taking control of a system to fix a problem and walk a user through a specific task. The program’s comprehensive hardware and software profiles help you determine the optimum configuration for your computers. When you need to distribute new or updated applications, simply create a list of systems to be updated and click the mouse. Apple Remote Desktop does the rest.
You can perform a wide range of other functions remotely. Rename systems. Verify and repair hard disks. Get reports on software that has changed. Delete old software applications. With Apple Remote Desktop, all of these capabilities are at your fingertips, no matter where you are on the network.
You can perform a number of such administrative tasks remotely. You can schedule tasks you want performed daily, and leave the rest to Apple Remote Desktop. You can verify and repair hard disks, generate reports on the status of software, rename systems and more. Apple Remote Desktop lets you stay on top of things no matter where you are on the network. Think of it as remote control for your Macs.
Taken from the Apple’s Remote desktop page
http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop
Yes, that is a feature of XP pro, and Microsoft has had the technology for quite some time. However, do not think that Microsoft was in any way innovative here — the concept of accessing a GUI remotely has existed nearly as long as the GUI itself (well, close enough). Additionally, as noted above, remote viewing of non-natively network aware desktops has also existed for quite some time. My point? Neither Apple nor Microsoft are innovators in this case, so no need to point fingers so aggressively. Beware marketing.
njm…
I second that motion 🙂
…and XP took from Citrix, who -to a lesser degree- took it from X.
I agree, that both MS and Apple came up with the idea, so who came up with the idea of remote desktop?
Well, work on X began in May of 1984 at MIT — it was based on W, a previous effort at a network-aware GUI. The specifics of W are seemingly elusive, and I’ve never really come across them. I’m not certain of any earlier client-server GUI systems; perhaps, though, I’ve just never looked hard enough. Anyone?
that the apple product is not based upon RDP or the citrix protocols, then we would have had easy access also to/from other platforms!
Either XP or MacOS, their system is totally proprietary, non crossplatform, and even $$.
Why not use things that are Free (as in speech), costless, and trully crossplatform, like VNC ( http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/ ) ?
It even runs on BeOS ! I still wonder why people bother using bloated software while there are effective one for free :^)
>>Either XP or MacOS, their system is totally proprietary, non crossplatform, and even $$.
Why not use things that are Free (as in speech), costless, and trully crossplatform, like VNC ( http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/ ) ?
It even runs on BeOS ! I still wonder why people bother using bloated software while there are effective one for free :^)<<
VNC sucks PERIOD. We use it at work to inferface with one of our rack PCs to control some I/Os remotely… what a waste of time!!!
CattBeMac: how did VNC not work for you?
my take:
this remote desktop is an admin’s tool. great for education and business. some people just don’t have the time/resources/experience to look into and set up other options.
its not like you HAVE to allow it as a home user; but, if your in biz, its not your computer anyway, and they have every right to be able to update/look in/whatever.
if your at school, it makes it much easier to be able to see what’s going on w/ yoru students than race around to each and every desktop that has problems.
like someone else pointed out, this is not new; there was a previous tool like this from apple and also timbuktu, etc.
x/citrix/vnc/etc allow clients (users) to access a session hosted on another computer. this is useful when your users have old machines and you only want to update a server and/or when you want to restrict computer access of your people to what they should be doing and/or you just want to make it easier to administer or any number of other scenarios.
it really depends on what is the situation. for the intended application, apple’s is an easy solution.
>>VNC sucks PERIOD. We use it at work to inferface with one >>of our rack PCs to control some I/Os remotely… what a >>waste of time!!!
have you actually ever used VNC?
lets see. free … works … fast … multi-platform … and oh yeah FREE
Just use VNC, it is Free.
I use it all the time (at least the last 2 years) on my servers and clients. Works with no problems, and very simple to admin. the program and install.
>>CattBeMac: how did VNC not work for you?<<
We use it to monitor and control various things. It’s main purpose is to interface an variation of UNIX boxes and Windows PCs tied into one of our rack-mounted PCs in our rack room. The problem I have found with it, is that it is always crashing, it’s slow and the graphics get jumbled on you.. and the funny thing is that you have to erase away a solid form of graphics color with the cursor to get to the controls (and NO, I’m not kidding nor crazy). Sometimes when it does crash, it nevers wants to re-initialize again. So most of us just say the helk with it and go into the rack room to do our business! It might be free and I understand that totally, but so is Linux, which actually works 🙂
Actually, it is a little bit more than “just” desktop sharing. It allows for quite a bit of systems management and remote administration, remote software install, delete, and repairs, and other stuff. I’m sure someone will figure out a way to Applescript it too (which would be the only missing feature, and it is a big one).
It basically allows you to automate and administrate several Macintoshes at once in a happy, candy-colored MacOS X interface. VNC is nice, it really is, but it can’t do everything that Remote Desktop can on its own. Although Timbuktu combined with netOctopus can, I think.
Does anybody have an idea of how fast this thing will be ? Will it work as VNC by intercepting graphics calls, or will it just be another client for the Window Server apple uses ?
People wake up, this is Apple Network Assistant, the old product Apple had in Mac os 9, so please stop talking about windows xp here, cuz this software has been around for a while, the only new thing here is that is a Mac OS X native application…. So please start reading the other newspapers, because the new you read are outdated… This is not a new software…. just a a new version of ANA…. please, windows xp didn’t exist when apple launched ANA…..
This system isn’t meant to be something like VNC, or even Timbutku; it’s meant to provide an Apple equivalent to to Microsoft’s SMS. In other words, it’s not <em>meant</em> to be interesting to home users, or even small businesses–it’s targeted at LAN managers who maintain and monitor sizable networks. Providing this level of <em>vendor-supplied</em> remote management is, I suspect, part of a strategy to make Macintoshes more readily deployable on an enterprise level.
And before people start with the “what enterprise would deploy something other than Windows” cracks, keep in mind that Next’s niche was rapid application deployment; the main reason Apple bought Next, not Be, back in the day was Next’s development tools, which are what gave it credibility with some enterprise customers. OS X is all that plus far more “big name” application support than Next ever had.
Okay, look at what Apple is selling a Remote Desktop Client package and a Remote Desktop Server package. Don’t confuse it as “oh I’m never touching an Apple Insecure! I don’t want anyone hacking my system”, wellll first you’d have to buy the damn software (or download) before anyone could view your system and if you were dumb enough to lend your password out or leave this client open or running while your computer is sitting idle your even more of an idiot.
Geez, okay it is an old idea and Apple is trying to give it a face lift. But don’t assume now that Apple’s are not secure just because they release some product. If you didn’t like them before nothing is different now, just admit you hate Apple and get the problem out of your system.
I agree Apple Remote Desktop is not a new product, but it is a Mac OS X version of Apple Network Assistant. Also, Windows users have a wide variety of “remote desktop” software-Symantec’s pcAnywhere 10.5 is the most popular on the Windows platform.
The RDP protocol used by windows terminal services is based on a standard IEC protocol, the same one the citrix use for their product.
It would be fanastic if, in a fit of foresight, Apple used the same protocol to implement their system, but Im not holding my breath.
I believe that TS differs from the standard in authentication, and advanced features, like printing, and audio.
It is vastly superior to VNC, which I find to be slow, even over 100mb networks, and to have a poor reflection of the state of the remote screen. I often need to ‘scrub’ it with the cursor to get it to update.
Linux users can use rdesktop to log onto windows servers, and Ive found it to work well for admin purposes.