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. Keeps your needs (and the abilities of the people you’re helping with the remote desktop) in mind as you read through the features.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.

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.

Let’s take a look at each category now and highlight the benefits, shortcomings, and differences.Īs we run through the features of the different remote desktop solutions, keep a few important questions in mind. Each of these solution categories offers something of value depending on your needs. Rather that simply throw a laundry list of remote desktop solutions at you, we’ve opted to group them into two major categories: operating-system-based remote desktop solutions, provided by the same company behind your operating system, and third-party remote desktop clients. RELATED: How to Lock Down TeamViewer for More Secure Remote Access Fortunately, there’s practically as many ways to set up a remote desktop session as there are motivations for doing so. After the recent flurry of news stories regarding TeamViewer and compromised computers (you can read their press release here and our article about properly securing TeamViewer here), there’s been quite a bit of interest in alternative remote desktop programs.

Teamviewer alternative reddit