I regularly use Remote Desktop on my home Windows PC to access a variety of work Windows PCs. If I were to replace my home PC with a Mac is there still suitable easy to use and cheap software to allow me to do this?

VNC?

There is a Microsoft RDP client (think it’s included with MS Office, not sure if it’s available seperately) or VNC as Rich suggests.

If you decide to go with VNC, the best Mac client is the RealVNC Enterprise one from here:
http://www.realvnc.com/cgi-bin/download.cgi

You don’t have to enter any details, just click Download, scroll down and look for
VNC Enterprise Edition Viewer for Mac OS X (x86/universal)
Stand-alone Viewer
Version 4.6.1

I tested many many OSX vnc clients before finding this one which actually performs close to how well VNC clients do on Windows.

Changing to VNC, whilst a solid protocol, would require a VNC Server service running on all your remote hosts. Admin PITA aside, that also raises security and change management issues. Better all round to get an MSTSC client for the Mac.

A quick Google would suggest that MS have an official client – http://www.microsoft.com/mac/remote-desktop-client

Is that a definite or just a suggestion you think might work? If there isn’t a suitable solution – and I’m sure there will be – I can’t get a Mac.
Ta

Sorry, out of sync with my reply. Cheers Cougar, that sounds like the best option. No way I could get our work IT dept installing VNC services left, right and centre just for me 🙂

It rather depends how you are connecting to your remote machines.
Most likely you are using RDP, in which case the MS RDP client for mac is what you need.

Yep the one Cougar has linked to is the one I was referring to from MS Office. It’s very good, and very similar to the Windows app.

Yep, RDP, or Remote Desktop as I called it in my OP 😉

Current RDC from Microsoft is fine, supports the RDP 6.0 protocol which is what Server 2008R2 and Windows 7 use.

I have a similar situation, I use Windows via a parallels virtual instal on the mac. and the Remote Desktop works absolutely fine.

As above Office11 has the Remote Desktop included which is also handy.

The only downside I’ve encountered is that Win7 home and basic versions don’t include Remote Desktop, so in those instances use Teamviewer which is a free (for non commercial) application. Maybe wouldn’t trust it for highly sensitive applications, and does require instal at both ends, but a suitable workaround.

Can also be used from Ipad / Iphone.

All versions of Windows 7 (including Starter) have the Remote Desktop Client, it’s just that the lower ones don’t allow other computers to RDP in.

Oh, and the Mac RDC is a free download, it’s part of Office but can be installed separately.

Mac MSTSC works just fine, as does the Mac Cisco VPN client

*Thread resurrection*

Continuing on from my original OP, I now have another conundrum. From an iMac I want to be able to access my work laptop (which sits in the same room), on which my work’s IP softphone is installed. The suggestion above to use the Windows RDC for Mac seemed like a goer, but it uses RDP 6, not 7, and as far as my research shows RDP 6 does not support the redirection of recording devices. This means I would not be able to use my (local) microphone for the softphone on the remote laptop. Using the iMac monitor via a KVM switch seemed like the next best thing but unfortunately I can’t use it as an external monitor.

Having had an extensive play with a Mac I really want to get one for home use, but I can’t see/find a way around the above problem (other than forgetting that nice big screen for work use and just working on my laptop *sniff*).

I’ve thought of keeping my old monitor, which defeats the purpose of de-cluttering the desk.

Any ideas from you kind lot?

if you’re accessing a laptop that’s in the same room, you don;t need an extra screen – the laptop has one built in. Or have I missed something?

lol, yes, indeed it does. However the laptop screen is small and not at a great angle for working day-in-day-out. This is not for an occasional thing, but for pretty much every hour of every working day.

“right tool for the job” time then, if you need to use something all day and the mac can’t do what you need…

That’s the irony. The Mac does everything I need it to do much better than my current PC set-up, except for this one thing. I can’t be the only person in the world with a Mac in the home office wanting to remotely access a work computer 🙁

Maybe not the only one, but it’s the requirement for audio that’s the killer. A quick google suggests that it’s a problem for windows users too..

Have you tried Logmein I use this a lot for accessing PC’s and it says it can be used on macs.

I use logmein to access my iMac via iPhone. Works flawlessly. Not got a windows machine to test, but reckon it’s worth a go as free.

I have used LogMeIn before now, but not tried the audio bit of it, or more specifically the microphone/recording bit. Just to clarify I haven’t actually bought the Mac yet because of this issue that I just can’t find a solution for. I find LogMeIn a bit tedious with local resource sharing (files, printers, clipboard) compared to RDP.

I use logmein to access my iMac via iPhone. Works flawlessly. Not got a windows machine to test, but reckon it’s worth a go as free.

As an example of what I’m hoping to achieve, can you access your iMac and use Skype from it (rather than running Skype locally on the iPhone)? Does your iPhone act as a microphone in your remote Skype session?

Looking at the comparison table from logmein, remote sound is only available in the Pro subscription for PC users, so looks like it is a dead end from a Mac perspective.

https://secure.logmein.com/UK/comparisonchart/comparisonFPP.aspx

Using remote software for any kind of audio work doesn’t really sound like a goer…

Have you checked to see if there’s a Mac version of the IP Phone client available (and a Mac version of the VPN client if you use one on your work laptop?).

Otherwise you could consider a Mac mini which would allow you to use an external monitor which you could share with your work laptop?

Have you checked to see if there’s a Mac version of the IP Phone client available

That’s what I was about to suggest too.

Also, you were buying a Mac three months ago and you’ve still not done it; I’d suggest you either get on with it and buy it and then deal with the consequences, or stop frigging about with square pegs and round holes and stick with the PC. (-:

Tried Teamviewer?

lol @ Cougar! 🙂

It’s been a LOT longer than 3 months, I can tell you. I thought about getting a Mac when I bought my current PC – which is still going after 8 or 9 years.

Back to the suggestion, the VoIP softphone requires a VPN connection to work. I can’t imagine for one minute work being happy with VPN clients being installed on non-work hardware. The softphone is a pain and I don’t/can’t use it with my Windows set-up at the moment anyway, but I’m being encouraged to use it instead of Skype (work spent a lot of money on the IP phone system).

A Mac Mini and a KVM would do it I suppose…

…or a hardware IP phone???

I use the soft phone client (Cisco Communicator) for iPhone when I’m working from home a bit, but to be honest if I’m settled in for any length of time I unplug the Hackintosh and plug my work laptop into the monitor.. it’s the easiest answer to be honest.

Tried Teamviewer?

Whether it’s the right tool or not in this case I’m less sure of, but TeamViewer is my go-to for impromptu remote support these days.

I can’t imagine for one minute work being happy with VPN clients being installed on non-work hardware.

Would they know? (-:

I can’t imagine for one minute work being happy with VPN clients being installed on non-work hardware.

Can you open the VPN connection on the work PC, and then use it to tunnel traffic from the Mac?

(I’ve no idea if this is even possible, just throwing ideas around).

I use the soft phone client (Cisco Communicator) for iPhone

Now THIS is looking like it might do the trick. If I can remove the softphone bit of the problem, Remote Desktop will do me fine…

Thanks brassneck, will look into that…

Sounds like work are already looking into Cisco Mobile AND a real, physical, hold-it-in-your-hand IP phone for home workers. Job done 🙂

Thanks for all the suggestions

Aww what? The thread is finished? I was waiting for the next part of Stilltortoises’ mission to build a Heath Robinson (Rube Goldberg for our US readers) device 😉

Using the iMac monitor via a KVM switch seemed like the next best thing but unfortunately I can’t use it as an external monitor

Modern thunderbolt iMacs will act as a monitor, you can use the TB output as a displayport INPUT as well. So you’re wrong in the above statement 😉

You do need the right output from your laptop though, I’m not sure if DVI->displayport will work with this. I suggest taking the current laptop and appropriate cable (will be about £10 from ebay, I know, I have one) into an apple store and ask to try it out.

Modern thunderbolt iMacs will act as a monitor

I’ve been led to believe that is only on the 27″ models, which is too big and too expensive for my needs. Certainly the advice I’ve received “in store” and on Google is that the latest 21.5″ has no input.

21.5 on the left, so has the input.

-source

….but:

Apple has confirmed to Macworld that the new iMacs can be used as external displays via their Thunderbolt ports. However, to do so, you’ll need a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac, such as one of the early 2011 models of MacBook Pros. Connecting the MacBook Pro to either the 21.5-inch or 27-inch Thunderbolt-equipped iMac will let you use the desktop as a display for the notebook.

Go into a store, ask to try it out. They have all the cables/devices needed, and they’re normally quite helpful.

Went into the store. They told me it couldn’t be done. Not an issue now; work will be providing hardware IP phones so I can happily just use RDP.