Jason has over a decade of experience in publishing and has penned thousands of articles during his time at LifeSavvy, Review Geek, How-To Geek, and Lifehacker. Prior to that, he was the Founding Editor of Review Geek.

Prior to his current role, Jason spent several years as Editor-in-Chief of LifeSavvy, How-To Geek's sister site focused on tips, tricks, and advice on everything from kitchen gadgets to home improvement. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the site to ensure readers have the most up-to-date information on everything from operating systems to gadgets. Jason Fitzpatrick is the Editor-in-Chief of How-To Geek. In exchange, you can do as much (or as little) as you need with it and across every platform you can think of. It's free, it's open source, you have lots configuration of options, but it's complicated to set up and requires the user to have a firm handle on topics like encryption and firewall configuration. We'll put it this way: VNC is like the Linux of remote desktop solutions. Some versions of VNC support encryption via plugins (like UltraVNC with their SecureVNC plugin). Related: How To Remote Control Your Home Computer From Anywhere With VNCīy default VNC traffic is not encrypted (where as solutions like RDP, TeamViewer, etc. The most notable example of this is RealVNC Personal which includes preconfigured encryption. Speaking of free, for the most part implementations of VNC are completely free except for those that add in additional features on top of the VNC protocol and charge for it. For home or office use with Windows computers that support it, using Remote Desktop Connection is a no brainer because that's what RDC was made for: local network administration in a professional environment, not cross-country tech support calls with Grandma.īecause VNC is open source and the protocol is free for anyone to use, it's easy to find good VNC client apps to connect into the remote computer like VNC Viewer (i OS/ Android), a free offering from RealVNC. The display is crisp, fast, and full color, the connection is responsive, and other than the tiny blue toolbar at the top of the screen indicating your're using RDC, you'd never know you weren't using the PC sitting on the desk next to you. If you're running a household or office of computers with Windows Pro or better (so they all support RDC hosting), connecting to those machines with RDC is such a smooth experience it's like literally being right at that computer. If it's the machine of a friend or family member you're helping, that might be a deal breaker: maybe they aren't technically competent enough to look up their own IP address and maybe they don't want to give you their login.Īlthough so far we've made it sound like Windows Remote Desktop Connection is a terrible product for remote desktop use, it's actually-in the right context-the best solution. If its your own machine you're connecting to, that's not such a big deal. Once turned on, however, both the Windows and Mac OS solution allow for unattended use.įurther, you need to know the remote IP address of the server and the login credentials for that machine. If said relative just called you up and needs help, however, you're stuck not only dealing with their actual problem but the problem of walking them through turning the remote desktop functionality on. If you're doing the configuring (either on your own machine or on the behalf of your relative when you're visiting them in person), this isn't a big deal.

While they aren't difficult to use, the biggest shortcoming of the built-in tools is that they need to be configured by the person on the other end. As such, people are comfortable using them-they're right at hand, free, and supplied by the company they trust enough to run their entire computer. Operating System-Based Remote Desktop: Old School and Baked Inīoth Windows and Mac OS have had remote desktop solutions built in for ages. Keeps your needs (and the abilities of the people you're helping with the remote desktop) in mind as you read through the features.

Do you need on-the-go access from your mobile device? If so, a good mobile client is a must. Do you need unattended access? A solution that requires someone at the remote PC is no good if nobody is home. Is the solution just for your own use or for helping friends and relatives? Just because you're tech savvy and can easily configure things doesn't mean they will. As we run through the features of the different remote desktop solutions, keep a few important questions in mind.

Microsoft remote desktop app linux