With Microsoft Remote Desktop, you can connect to a remote PC and your work resources from almost anywhere. Experience the power of Windows with RemoteFX in a Remote Desktop client designed to help you get your work done wherever you are. CoRD is a Mac OS X remote desktop client for Microsoft Windows computers using the RDP protocol. It's easy to use, fast, and free for anyone to use or modify. Remote Desktop from any browser. Fastest web client for RDP and VNC. Zero installations. Sign Up Free! Microsoft Remote Deskop is an effective free tool for managing remote-desktop connections from a Mac. Perfect for those who travel frequently, or those who have a Mac/PC environment at work that. CoRD is a Mac OS X remote desktop client for Microsoft Windows computers using the RDP protocol. It's easy to use, fast, and free for anyone to use or modify. Macs interact well with Windows, and with CoRD the experience is a bit smoother.
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), developed originally by Microsoft, is a network protocol that provides a way for people to get access to a computer remotely with a nice lightweight user interface along with input devices like keyboard and mouse. Both Windows 7 and 8 come with a native Remote Desktop Client that lets you connect to the remote machine through this protocol. However, for people who constantly need to manage multiple machines at once, you will need a program that manages multiple connections for you to make your life easier. And here are 3 of them that are free and great for you to consider.
Remote Desktop Manager
It’s a feature-rich remote connections manager that manages not only multiple remote desktop connections but many other protocols like VNC, Citrix, HTTP, FTP, LogMeIn, TeamViewer, Putty, etc. You can save credentials locally in the database protected by the AES encryption, or in the external applications like LastPass or KeePass, or on their new released Devolutions Online Database.
What’s good about this tool is that it also supports and integrates pretty well with many popular services as well. Such as:
- Intel AMT support – to allow remote console asset access even when the computers are off.
- Hyper-V dashboard – to manager hyper-v powered VMs.
- Windows PowerShell support
- Advanced Data Source support, including Amazon S3, Dropbox, FTP, SQL Server, etc.
- Integrated password manager
- Microsoft Azure Console
- Many VPN connections
- etc.
If you are looking for one that is not only managing remote desktop connections but also many other things, this Remote Desktop Manager could be your answer. The Standard edition is FREE, and according to this comparison sheet, it could just be good enough for most of your IT tasks.
Please also check out our full review of the product here.
Terminals
Terminals is another feature rich, tab-based remote desktop clients manager that uses Terminal Services Active Client (mstscax.dll). Other than RDP connections, Terminals can also manage most of other popular connections as well, such as VNC, Console, SSH, VRRC, Citrix, RAS, HTTP, etc. As a bonus, it also handles a variety of networking operations like Ping, Trace Route, WMI Explorer, TCP Connections, DNS Lookup, Time Sync, etc.
Terminals is an open source project that has been quite actively maintained and developed for some years. It’s on stable version 2 and can be running on Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows 8. Both 32-bit and 64-bit editions are supported.
Remote Desktop Connection Manager
Microsoft itself also offers a manager tool called Remote Desktop Connection Manager 2.7 (RDCMan) that helps you manage multiple remote desktop connections. It’s similar to Windows Servers’ built-in MMC Remote Desktop Snap-in but more flexible.
It works on Windows 7, and server version from 2003 and up. For Windows XP, you will need the latest version of RDP client in order to use it.
/update on Nov. 24, 2014/
The RDCMan 2.7, released on Nov. 11, 2014, is a major feature release. New features include – Virtual machine connect-to-console support – Smart groups – Support for credential encryption with certificates – Windows 8 remote action support – Support for Windows 8, Windows 8.1 / Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2
MultiDesk
MultiDesk is another simple tab-based remote desktop manager that only manages multiple RDP connections for you. All connections can be managed through a server/group folder structure. It’s free and portable. all configurations and connections are saved in the save folder in an XML file. Since it’s portable, you can easily carry it with you so you can get access to it with all the same information.
We actually have reviewed this tool before. Check it out if you want to know more.
That actually made the no. 4 tools I covered here, instead of 3 I intended, but I guess you wouldn’t mind knowing one more option.
RD Tabs
RD Tabs is another tab-based remote desktop manager that not only put Remote Desktop sessions to the tab but also provides extra features such as favorites with advanced editing, command line scripting, connection thumbnails, encrypted passwords, detached connection windows, remote desktop screen capture, remote terminal server information/management, RDP 6.0 support, etc. As one of our lovely commenters, Samuel Davis, states, it’s simple as hell.
/update on Nov. 28, 2014/
2 new additions were mentioned by one of our visitors, mRemoteNG, and 2x Clients. Since they both look pretty good, we are adding them to the list here as below.
mRemoteNG
mRemoteNG is a fork of mRemote, an open source, tabbed, multi-protocol, remote connections manager. It supports not only RDP protocols but also some of the other popular ones as well, including VNC, ICA, SSH, Telnet, etc. It’s a simple program to use and manage all your remote desktop connections from a central location.
2x Client
I actually have been using 2x Client for quite a while, not on my main Windows desktop but on my mobile smartphones. I don’t feel its Windows Client offering more compelling features than the ones I mentioned above, but they do have a wide range coverage on other platforms, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Chrome App. They even have versions for Windows Embedded Systems.
So if you are looking for one mainly used not on Windows Desktop platform, 2x Client might be the one to go. The user experience on 2x Client is better than Microsoft’s own RDP client on both iOS, Android, and Windows Phones.
Verdict
I personally have used Terminals for years and absolutely like it. It’s rock solid and has everything I wanted. However, the Remote Desktop Manager looks so promising and so powerful. It can be your powerful weapon to cover all your needs within one consolidated environment.
That doesn’t mean you should overlook the other tools we mentioned in this post. Both Microsoft RDCMan and MultiDesk are simple and just work. If you are the guy who doesn’t always fall in love with an all-in-one kind of tool. These two are probably your answer. Besides, if managing Windows Servers via RDP is all you needed, why you need a tool with a bunch of features you will never use?
As for managing a bunch of connections on a mobile platform, both Remote Desktop Manager and RD Client from Microsoft work really well.
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Thanks Phil. It looks like a really nice tool. We will definitely check it out.
Sharing your screen remotely is a convenient way to access another computer as if you’re sitting in front of it. OS X and Windows have this ability built right into them, meaning you can easily share your Mac’s screen with Windows PCs, and vice versa.
If you run a mixed network, it’s most likely a combination of Macs and Windows PCs. You might have a Linux machine tossed in there to serve files, but most people have Windows or Macs, and sometimes both.
RELATED:Use Remote Desktop To Access Other Computers On a Small Office or Home Network
With each method described below, we’re connecting from a client that we installed on our system to a target computer. On our Mac we’re using the Remote Desktop (RDP) application, and on Windows the RealVNC Viewer.
These tools allow us to connect to the targets computer via each system’s native method. In other words, Windows uses RDP natively while OS X uses VNC. This means we have to do almost no configuring to the targets, so getting everything working is usually hassle-free.
Connecting to Windows PC Clients from a Mac
We’ve previously discussed how to use Remote Desktop to access other Windows computers in the same house. It’s not so much different doing it from OS X, but let’s go through it for the sake of thoroughness.
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To connect to a Windows PC, you must first turn on remote connections. Open the System Properties and click the “Remote” tab, then make sure “Allow remote connections to this computer” is enabled.
You also want to make sure you install the Microsoft Remote Desktop client on your Mac. It is available in the App Store.
Remote Desktop will be installed in your Mac’s Application’s folder. In our example, we’ve already set up a user profile, which is ready for action. Let’s take a moment, however, to click “Edit” and show you what’s involved.
Next to “Connection name” we give it a friendly name while the “PC name” is either the name we gave our target PC or its IP address.
We don’t worry about configuring a gateway because we’re connecting to our PC within our local network. Also, if you do not want to enter your user name and password every time you connect, you can add them to the “Credentials.” Not entering any credentials means that when you connect to your Windows machine, you will need to log into an account.
If you want to know what your PC’s name and/or IP address is, you need to check. Use the keyboard shortcut “Windows + R” and then type “cmd” to open a command prompt. In the command prompt, type “ipconfig” and hit “Return.” You want to use the IPv4 address it gives you.
If you can’t remember what you named your computer, you can find that information on the “System” control panel.
The rest of the Remote Desktop connection’s settings concern resolution, colors, and full screen options.
When you connect to a new client, you’ll likely see a Verify Certificate dialog. Click “Continue” to connect.
If you don’t want to see this warning dialog in the future, click “Show Certificate” and then check the “Always trust …” option as shown below.
To confirm changes to your certificate trust settings, you will need to enter your system password.
Remember, if you didn’t previously enter anything in the connection credentials, you will see the login screen when you first connect. Once you’ve successfully connected to your Windows PC from your Mac, your Windows desktop will appear.
As we mentioned, being able to connect to a Windows machine is a pleasant convenience. For example, your Windows PC may be a super beefy machine you use to do compiling or rendering. You can use remote desktop to check on a job’s progress or start tasks without actually being physically at the machine.
Connecting to a Mac from a Windows PC
Connecting to a Mac from a Windows PC is a little different. You’re not going to be able to use Remote Desktop, but that’s okay because there’s a free client called RealVNC viewer that does the trick nicely.
Just like with Windows, you first have to set up your Mac for screen sharing. Open the “Sharing” preference panel and check the box next to “Screen Sharing.”
Click “Computer Settings…” and make sure “VNC viewers may control screen with password” is checked. Then enter a simple password.
The VNC Viewer requires installation, but you don’t have to sign up for an account to use it.
Recall from the earlier screenshot that our Mac’s screen can be accessed at 192.168.0.118 or Matt-Air.local. If you’re unsure how to access your Mac, go back to your Sharing preferences and double-check the information on the Screen Sharing settings.
We enter “192.168.0.118” in our VNC client and leave the encryption as it is.
The RealVNC Viewer application has a plethora of options you can peruse at your leisure. You’ll probably be fine leaving them as is, though, if you want your connection to automatically open full screen, you need to tick the box next to “Full screen mode.”
We return to our connection and click the “Connect” button. An authentication box will appear where you will need to enter the simple password you created in the Sharing preferences on your Mac.
When you connect to the target Mac, you will also need to log into a (presumably yours) user account, just like we had to do with Windows (if we didn’t supply our credentials). Once logged in, your Mac desktop will now appear in the VNC Viewer window in the same state as you left it.
If you mouse to the top-middle of the window, you can spawn extra controls, which when you hover will give you a tooltip explaining what each one does.
You’ll find handy shortcuts to close and save the connection, as well as to change options, and a full-screen button so your shared desktop fills the screen.
Download vmware horizon client for mac. On the Mac side of things, a Screen Sharing icon will appear in the menu bar. This lets you quickly and easily access the Screen Sharing preferences or disconnect clients.
It’s important to remember that sharing a computer screen is really only suited for short bits of work. If you were trying to remotely repair something or show another user how to do something, it’s ideal, but to get any meaningful work done, not so much. You will always experience a little bit of lag and stutter, and there’s not a whole lot you can do about that.
Free Windows Rdp Clients For Mac
Like we said, however, it’s not intended for heavy-duty work. Keep in mind also, we’re only sharing our screens locally, which means that if you leave the house, say to go get coffee, and you realize you need to connect to a machine at home, you’ll need to know how to connect to it through your router. There are ways to do this with a Mac as well as Windows machines.
We encourage you to check out those articles for more information on how to remotely connect to your machines at home. If you have any comments or questions about what you’ve read today, please leave your feedback in our discussion forum.
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