How to remotely administer PCs?

[lopri]

Hmm.. So am I correct in my understanding that Windows' native RDP is, once you overcome the inconvenience, more performant than proprietary products?

 

[MustISO]

I use TeamViewer exclusively and never have any issues with it.

 

[owensdj]

Google's Chrome Remote Desktop looks good, and it's free. It's similar to Team Viewer in that you don't have to worry about connecting to machines behind a NAT router or with a dynamic IP address. You just need the machine's PIN Number/Access Code.

 

[Sureshot324]

Hmm.. So am I correct in my understanding that Windows' native RDP is, once you overcome the inconvenience, more performant than proprietary products?

Yes. Rdp implements the windows shell on the client side. All the ui elements are being drawn on the client side.

Other tools like vnc and logmein basically transmit full screen video of your desktop. They are a bit more efficient than that, only sending the parts that change and other tricks, but they are nowhere near as fast as rdp.

 

[dawks]

Hmm.. So am I correct in my understanding that Windows' native RDP is, once you overcome the inconvenience, more performant than proprietary products?

This is probably fairly accurate.

The one thing I do for a simple setup is still use LogMeIn, but their Hamachi VPN software. Install the client on two computers, each is assigned a 25.x.x.x IP and they are now on a direct private network. You can then use the 25.x.x.x IP (which is static) to connect to a box remotely using RDP. LogMeIn and Hamachi take care of the IP stuff like NAT (no port forwarding) and DHCP (no need to track down the IP of the target computer), since the Hamachi IP is static, just use it to connect. Hamachi also has encryption (for an added layer of security - RDP is also encrypted) and compression (might help performance slightly). Only downside now is that a user needs to be logged in, and on the desktop (not locked) for Hamachi Free to be active).

 

[Mushkins]

One thing to take into account is multi-monitor support.

RDP on Win7 Enterprise/Ultimate natively supports multiple monitors, something *NONE* of the proprietary solutions can get right without buggy, awkward toggling.

Kind of a big deal in the corporate world where multi-monitor setups have proven considerable productivity increases, and every bit counts for remote users that are already struggling with a nonstandard work environment.

I'd kill to have multi-monitor support on Win7 pro at work.

 

[PowerYoga]

join.me can do screen sharing, is free and lets you remote control. The lag is fairly bad but its usable for a free software.

 

[lopri]

Are there RDP server apps on mobile platforms (iOS and Android) that take advantage of Windows' native RDP, Instead of their own solutions? I would think the answer should be positive if the performance advantage is there and there is no need to develop its own protocol. (Though I don't know whether they need to pay license to MS)

I just noticed Windows 8 let you setup remote access w/ an email (I don't remember seeing it in Win 7). I wonder if configuring RDP on Windows 8 is significantly easier than on previous Windows.

 

[Sureshot324]

Are there RDP server apps on mobile platforms (iOS and Android) that take advantage of Windows' native RDP, Instead of their own solutions? I would think the answer should be positive if the performance advantage is there and there is no need to develop its own protocol. (Though I don't know whether they need to pay license to MS)

I just noticed Windows 8 let you setup remote access w/ an email (I don't remember seeing it in Win 7). I wonder if configuring RDP on Windows 8 is significantly easier than on previous Windows.

RDP is a Windows specific protocol. There are RDP clients for different operating systems, but not servers. Linux has an equivalent called X11 desktop forwarding. Android and iOS are *Nix based but don't use xserver so I don't think that's possible.