I use VNC ALL the time... probably every day. I've tried all of the VNC client / servers, and it's true that OSXVNC server works great. I've found that the most recent version of Chicken of the VNC works smoothly, quickly and easily. Plus it has a funny name.

VNCThing is a client; OSXVNC is a server ... so you have to use both for a complete experience.

I use OSXvnc frequently (once when the mouse on my Mac died, I was fortunate to have VNC running as I was back to work within a minute from another machine). I access my Mac from both PC's and other Macs and it is not difficult at all. As for clients to connect to the OSXvnc server, on the PC I use VNC Viewer and Chicken of the VNC is great for a Mac.

I develop cross-platform multi-user database applications. VNC is great in an environment where you are administering PCs running windows (2K,XP) & Macs - I have yet to experiment with accessing workstations in a LAN from another located somewhere on the internet (not in the same LAN) - this is easy using Timbuktu, not trivial with VNC - but you can't beat the price and I have had VERY few problems using it.

It is very disconcerting seeing OS X running on the screen of a Wintel box in full screen mode - I played a joke on a friend telling him the Intel compatible version of OSX was running on a Wintel PC - he was shocked and awed, until I revealed the truth!

It would make little sense for Apple to reinvent the wheel - VNC is open source cross platform software that is almost foolproof. Perhaps a System Preference setting would be the only thing neccessary to make it as easy to use as file sharing and iTunes music sharing.

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vaporland wrote:
... I have yet to experiment with accessing workstations in a LAN from another located somewhere on the internet (not in the same LAN) ...

It would make little sense for Apple to reinvent the wheel...

it's fast as long as it is configured properly -there are quite a few settings for OSXVNC regarding screen updates - on a local area 100-base-t net it is very acceptable using 1gHz+ CPUs- i would never try to do any remote admin over dialup - too problematic

If you're looking for an easy way to share desktops on Mac and Windows, check out Bosco's Screen Share. The VNC stuff was way too geeky for me expect my grandmother to ever be able to use (we tried), so I wrote Bosco's Screen Share.

http://www.componentx.com/ScreenShare

Now in beta, now allows driving of remote desktops.

-Brad Hutchings
Hutchings Software

I have a B&W G3 set up as a music server connected to my stereo with a D-Link 802.11g card (OrangeWare driver). It is set up to run VNC server and iTunes on start up - no keyboard or monitor. Using a VNC client I can control it from my iMac, PC or iPaq pocket pc (which has wifi). Speed is fine on PC and iMac, rather slow with iPaq but still usable despite small screen. Ripping CDs is too slow to do when running the VNC server, less than 1x so I rip to an external firewire drive on my iMac and transfer from there if I'm doing a lot of ripping or alternatively rip to the iMac and transfer it the G3 over the LAN.

Then Apple brought out AirPort express... still doesn't quite do the same job.

The answers seem obvious to me, maybe your not scratching hard enough (;->).

To your first brain scratcher: "I can't figure out why Big Redmond insisted on making Windows XP Home Edition."

Really? I think the answer to this one is easy. When wondering about Microsoft's motives all you need to do is to "follow the money". It wasn't so much that MS create a "Home" version of XP (it shows great marketing that you thought so) but rather that they created a "Pro" version which brought a record new high in street price to Microsoft's operating systems. If you followed the MS Monopoly trial at all you know that the increase in average selling price of Windows over the years was a major fact that contributed to their conviction of as Monopoly that abused it's power.

To your second brain scratcher: "Why is Apple not providing the ability to remotely login into an Aqua desktop?"

Do you think this is really a mainstream need for most customers? I don't. Apple provides a built in Unix solution in SSH, as you point out, for propellor heads (no offense intended). They provide, for fee as you also point out, a network adminstrator solution in Apple Remote Desktop. So who is left who has a burning need for remote desktop log in. I don't think many people.

Also, regarding this point, it is funny how on the one hand people complain when a favorite feature of theirs is not built into Mac OS for free but then again a lot of people also get upset when Apple builds that same feature into Mac OS when a developer already delivers the capability (as you point out Timbuktu Pro is already a solution for some customers). Many stories on this site discussed the questions of Sherlock/Watson and Dashboard/Konfabulator ad naseum. If Apple followed your advice wouldn't just as many people get upset about their stepping on the Timbuktu business?

One last thing: When you write things like "Does Apple think that Aqua users don't have the need to access one Mac from another at home. You would think that since Apple is all about wireless networking, they would make such access easy. Scratch! Scratch! Scratch!" You have me wondering why you misrepresented things in this way and what you are really scratching (sorry I couldn't resist that pun).

I don't know about you but I can access all my Macs on my wireless network without using SSH, VNC, Timbuktu, or Apple Remote Desktop. It's called File Sharing. I can get everything I need from all of my systems quite easily with File Sharing turned on (I can also get all my music and photos between my systems with built in Rendezvous support). Obviously you mean something else by "access". Sorry for nitpicking, of course you talk quite a bit about "logginging into Aqua" but let's not then generalize that need of yours to suggest we can't access our Macs on a wireless network and thus wonder what Apple must be thinking - the two just aren't the same.

You are exactly right on!!!
I'm not a UNIX or FreeBSD or whatever advanced technology user. I am but a simple worker struggling to keep my deadlines met.

I love OS X and its ease of use. Especially the networking capabilities with file sharing, printer sharing to fellow OS X as well as flavors of Windows from XP down to 98. I just set up folders that I want to share, have read and write access to them and what more do I want?

What do other people need remote access for other than files or printer or other peripherals?
I can see the small section of users that only have certain software on another machine and thus, the computer being used may want to harness the app and the cpu of the remote machine.

I'm support 124 Macintosh users on a Microsoft Exchange network, 43 of them are MAc OSX users. I use VNC everyday. Without VNC I don't know what I would do. I use Share my Desktop VNC, and install the VNC services on all the Mac OS X workstations. Everything works just fine. I use VNCthing client version 2.2 to connect to all the Macs. Once connected, I save the client station ID and password for automatic login in the future. I lson use TightVNC viewer on the PC to access the Macs. For he users on Classic workstations, I use Network Assistant to connect, since this is the only free Remote option Apple apple offers.

Jeancornet@gmail.com