Remote Access for Windows and Mac
Posted on April 15, 2009
Lifehacker recently asked their readers to vote for the Five Best Remote Desktop tools. I personally use both Windows and Mac machines and have never had any trouble remotely accessing my Windows machines from either system thanks to Remote Desktop applications freely available for both platforms.
However, remote access for my Mac has been a different story. I recently began using the free version of LogMeIn.com with much success. So seeing LogMeIn.com at the top of Lifehackers “Hive Five” list validates the opinions of the readers.
The benefits of LogMeIn.com is that it is cross-platform and allows you Internet browser-based access, so you don’t have to install any software on the client machine; only a small application is require to be installed on the target machine. Also, it’s free!
Setup
First, I walked through their painless registration process to create my account. Then, on the Mac I wanted to connect to I installed the required application and set an access password. That’s it. No ports to forward or firewall settings to battle with.
Connect
From any Windows or Mac machine, I simply login to my LogMeIn.com account, type in the access code for the Mac I want to connect to, and I’m in! A little notification window appears to let anyone who may be sitting in front of the computer I’m remotely controlling that it is being accessed via LogMeIn.com.
The user who is currently logged in to the target computer is not logged out, so LogMeIn.com would be an excellent option for remotely assisting a friend, family member, or client. So long as they don’t mind taking a few moments to install the required application to admit remote access.
My fave is Techinline Remote Desktop (http://www.techinline.com) which is the perfect alternative for small businesses such as mine, which cannot unload over $100 a month for a remote access tool. It’s probably the easiest service to use due to the absence of any installation. Although it’snot as fully featured as LogMeIn Pro, the functionality is more than enough for the right price!
Thanks for letting us know about TechInLine.com, Albert. It looks like a Webex-style solution with modest subscription prices.
The only drawback I see is that it doesn’t support the Mac OS. That’s been the big hurdle for me is something that will work well with both Mac and Windows.