Remote Desktop Archives - 9to5Mac

Google developing “Chromoting” remote desktop management app for iOS

Mike Beasley Jan 16 2014 - 8:27 pm PT

Google has been working on a remote desktop management app for Android devices called “Chromoting” since last year, but today an entry in the Chromium issue tracker has revealed that an iOS version is also under developement. The issue, which was opened on Wednesday, indicates that the iOS version is still very much in the design stage, while its counterpart on Android is much further along in its development.

According to the post, the iOS version is is expected to be released much later than the Android client. The features of the app have mostly been kept under wraps, but it looks like a fairly straightforward piece of software that allows you to access and manipulate remote machines using Chrome as a condiut for the connection. The biggest advantage Chromoting would have over similiar solutions would be the low, low price of $0.00.

Apple updates Remote Desktop Client and Dashboard Widget with fixes

Mark Gurman Dec 3 2013 - 11:33 am PT

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Apple has issued a pair of updates today to its Remote Desktop software. The first update is Apple Remote Desktop 3.7.1 Client:

The 3.7.1 update is recommended for all Apple Remote Desktop clients and addresses several issues related to overall reliability, usability and compatibility.

The Client works hand-in-hand with the main Apple Remote Desktop administrative software, which is available on the Mac App Store. The second update issued today is version 3.7 of Apple’s Remote Desktop Dashboard widget:

The Apple Remote Desktop Dashboard widget* gives you an instant, at-a-glance view of the remote computers in your network.

It’s fully integrated with the Apple Remote Desktop administrative application, so a click on a particular computer will allow you to select and start working with any computer in the system.

The widget requires a user to have the administrative app installed.

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How Google manages over 40,000 Macs…without much help from Apple

Jordan Kahn Nov 27 2013 - 4:03 pm PT

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During a talk at the LISA ’13 conference in Washington D.C earlier this month, a couple members from Google’s Macintosh Operations team explained how the company has been forced to develop its own set of tools to manage its fleet of roughly 43,000 Macs. The reason, according to Google engineers Clay Caviness and Edward Eigerman, is that Apple isn’t doing a great job at supporting its enterprise management tools. As the first slide of the presentation (pictured above) puts it, “While Apple won’t do much for you, there are tools out there you can use to keep your machines secure, up to date and useful.”

“We don’t use any of Apple’s tools to manage the Macs. Apple arguably produces two tools, Mac OS X server… and Apple Remote Desktop. It kinda breaks down when you get it over 50, 100, 200 machines that you’re managing… we’ve sort of lost their attention as far as enterprise management tools.”

During one slide (pictured above, right), Google uses the red line to represent the release of the iPhone while noting Apple’s remote desktop “hasn’t had a major revision to it since 2006.” To avoid using Apple’s management tools, Google has either developed its own tools or is using open source tools for everything from configuration, to package management, monitoring system levels and more. Google announced during the talk that one of the imaging tools it developed, CanHazImage, will soon be hitting open source.
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