Looking for the best remote desktop app for Mac running OS X Mavericks? Look no further because here we are going to explore 3 of my favorite ways to remote into Windows machines from Mac.
When I purchased my first Apple computer (13″ Macbook Air) early in 2013, I found myself searching for the best application to remote into my Windows computers and servers.With the need for me to be able to quickly remote into a variety of Windows servers, I wanted an RDP client I could use on my Mac that would give me a great experience.
Next look for Microsoft Remote Desktop in the App Store to download the new application on your Mac running OS X Yosemite or higher. Once installed you can skip the first run experience. In the menu click connections and choose the option to import connections from the other app.
At work we typically suggest Microsoft’s Remote Desktop for Mac to our Doctors and staff when they come to us for assistance with setting up VPN and remote access into the hospital.
But Microsoft’s Remote Desktop for Mac isn’t the only application available.
My RDP Requirements
Since I work heavily on Windows machines, there were a few essential requirements I was looking for to help my overall daily workflow:
- Performance.
- Manageability of multiple systems.
- Price
1. Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac
Coming in at # 1 for my favorite remote desktop client for Mac is Microsoft’s Remote Desktop for Mac.
Microsoft had recently made version 8.0.0 available. This version really has stepped it up a notch from their previous version.
Performance
Performance is not an issue for me during my tests.
Rd Client
Manageability of multiple systems
Yes, you can manage multiple systems.
One of the biggest notable changes I found with this version over the previous is the fact that you can save client servers/sessions. This was important to me since I have a wide-range of servers that I need to connect to at any moment.
Price
Free
Cons
None as of this writing.
2. 2X Client for RDP/Remote Desktop
Coming in at # 2 on my list is 2X Client for RDP/Remote Desktop.
I have to be honest and say that I haven’t given this one a full blown test as of yet. However, I have used it many times on IOS devices and has worked well. I did install it for my testing here in this article and overall was a nice experience.
I would have to rank this one a close 2nd to Microsoft’s client.
Performance
Overall performance was not an issue for me during my tests.
Manageability of multiple systems
Yes, you can manage multiple systems.
Price
Free
Cons
A small issue I see (and probabaly not an issue for most) is the Windows Snap feature. It seems to be a ‘hit-and-miss’ when I try to snap a window to the top of the screen.
3. CoRD
Coming in at # 3 on my lis is CoRD.
CoRD is a Mac OS X remote desktop client for Microsoft Windows computers.
As of this writing, CoRD’s website has an announcement saying: “Cord don’t seem to work on 10.9 Mavericks. Check back next week.” This was announced on 2013-10-23.
As you can see in the video, I have installed CoRD on my Macbook Air running 10.9 OS X Mavericks and it does work. Maybe there are some bugs that I am not aware of but overall it does seem to run OK for me.
Performance
Overall performance for me was not an issue during my tests.
Manageability of multiple systems
One thing I really do like about CoRD is the option to view all remote sessions in one window. This really saves space on your desktop and makes it a breeze to switch between the different sessions.
Price
Free
Cons
CoRD doesn’t appear to work with NLA (Network Level Authentication). This is a problem for me since a lot of the servers at work are now configured to use NLA, I simply get an error saying: “The requested session access is denied” when I try to connect.
As with CoRD, another issue is the Windows Snap feature is a hit-and-miss.
Conclusion
In the end, all three of the applications worked well. The major downside for me with CoRD is the fact I am unable to connect to servers with NLA enabled.
For now, I will continue to use Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac.
I will update this post and/or comments below with any updated experiences (good or bad).
Question for You
Macos Remote Desktop Client For Windows 10
What do you use on your Mac to remotely manage Windows machines?
There are many ways to remotely control a Windows computer software such as using third party software or the built-in Remote Desktop feature. However, the choices of remotely controlling another computer that is running a different operating system can be quite limited. Although Windows dominates the computer market, but you can still find a lot of people using Macs that runs on OS X.
Apple has their own remote access software called Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) which is a shareware that cost $79.99. It comes with some powerful features such as software distribution and automation to perform repetitive tasks on remote computers, but unfortunately it is meant for Mac to Mac and not cross platform. In this article, we will be sharing a few methods on how you can remotely access Apple Mac computers from another computer running Windows for free.
1. TeamViewer
TeamViewer is one of the most popular remote access software that is commonly used to provide remote support because it is easy to use and comes with really powerful features such as file transfer, switch sides, conference call, VoIP, screen recording and etc. Other than that, TeamViewer also works on multiple operating systems where it allows you to control a Mac OS X system from a Windows computer.
You will need to download and install the “HOST” version of TeamViewer on the Mac computer that you want to remotely control. As for the Windows computer that will be controlling the Mac computer, simply download the TeamViewer full version, install and run it. Enter the ID followed by the password and you’re able to connect to the OS X machine. The ID will not change and always stay the same on the machine.
The TeamViewer Host options can be accessed by clicking on the TeamViewer icon at the menu bar and select Preferences. You can change your password, configure the voice, microphone and phone conferencing, access control and etc.
Download TeamViewer Host for Mac
2. LogMeIn Free
LogMeIn Free allows you to conveniently remotely control a Mac computer running OS X from Windows through its web interface or the Firefox plugin. First you will need to create a free account, then login from the Mac computer and click the Add Computer button to download the LogMeIn Installer. After installation, you are able to access that computer from any other computer by logging in to LogMeIn. Do take note that the file transfer feature is disabled in the free version.
Download LogMeIn Free
3. RealVNC
Although there are many versions of VNC which are mostly free, RealVNC targets the enterprise users by offering shareware version and cross platform support to Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX and AIX. Similarly to LogMeIn, the free version of RealVNC provides a very basic remote access feature without file transfer, chat, session encryption, optimized performance, printing and deployment tool. You can use other VNC viewer such as TightVNC and UltraVNC to access the RealVNC server.
Download RealVNC
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ReplyRemote Desktop Client For Windows
If the OSX commuter has remote management enabled, what client does the Windows computer need to run to connect to it?
ReplyLogmein Free isn’t completely free anymore. You can buy an account, and for IT people, you can buy Logmein Central, and then tie a couple of Logmein Pro pay-for machines to the account (easy). Then you are given logmein free subscriptions you can then tie into the account. If the remote access is going to give you an hourly rate or save you time (and time is money) then it is WORTH buying the annual subscription.
The thing that has always been an issue for me is Logmein wants to boast about their ability to stream the remote desktop as HD, and frankly that is just bells and whistles to me. That requires WAY more bandwidth, and is pointless in most cases. The GREAT thing about logmein, even over their join.me product, is you can cut back the color quality or even make it black and white. This SIGNIFICANTLY speeds up the remote session to make sure things work right. Join.me is a $100/yr subscription, to compete with their enterprise version rescue, but again the quality of the remote session is simply limiting and time wasting for the average IT guy who needs to help the user.
More to the point of Logmein Pro, you can actually perform secure file transfers, and monitor the system in a dashboard. The Dashboard for pro subscriptions ALSO gives you things like the top fifteen running processes, all scheduled tasks, the most current 15 lines of the event viewer log, etc. You can perform various levels of remote boot, and even utilize a scripting type offering called one to many.
It is incredibly powerful, and COMPLETELY worth the cost of the annual subscriptions.
(I do NOT work for Logmein, just an IT consultant.)
Thank you very much. Used realvnc viewer on win 7 64bit, to connect to a mac laptop on OS X Mavericks.
ReplyRemote Desktop Client For Mac
I was using the built in vnc server for osx, but with the last 10.8.5 update my connection got a lot of lag. I updated my vnc viewers to the latest but that didn’t help. I finally downloaded the vine vnc server ( turned off the osx vnc server ) and bingo problem solved. Thanks for the article, it was a great help.
Replythanks a lot