![]() In a classroom, you can use the Copy Items feature to replace a folder of documents used during a class with a fresh set of files. Not Quite Software DistributionĪpple Remote Desktop also allows you to copy or delete files on remote workstations, but these tasks are not quick and easy, as Apple claims. Broadcast proved troublesome, especially when running in OS 9.1, where it sometimes caused application crashes. We found the chat feature helpful and easy to use, but it wasn’t nearly as easy as alternatives such as AOL’s Instant Messenger. And since instructors can control students’ desktops, they can provide help without leaving the front of the classroom.Īpple Remote Desktop also includes Text Chat, which is similar to instant messaging, and Broadcast, which lets you send a text message to more than one desktop. ![]() Using Apple Remote Desktop, for example, a teacher can demonstrate a task and then observe the desktop of one or more students as they perform the task on their own. ![]() But Apple Remote Desktop extends the notion of control to include sharing your screen with that of anyone on the network, viewing the screens of as many as four users simultaneously, and locking students’ screens when you want to focus their attention elsewhere. The program’s Interact functions are quite similar to those in Netopia’s mature Timbuktu Pro 6.0.1 (mmmmh Reviews, March 2002), which allows you to remotely observe and control another computer, as well as perform file exchanges. But you’re limited in how many features you can activate simultaneously (for example, you cannot observe some workstations while controlling others), and you can’t adjust the size of the window that displays the screen of a remote workstation. To use Apple Remote Desktop’s features, you simply select the name of the target workstation from any Apple Remote Desktop window and click on the corresponding icon–Observe, Control, or Share Screen, for example–in the customizable toolbar at the top of the window. Apple organizes these functions into three menus: Interact, Manage, and Report. Interact BetterĪpple Remote Desktop lets administrators interact with other Mac users on your network through their workstations, execute operations on remote workstations, and generate reports about those workstations. These groups come in quite handy, because you can include a client in more than one group (such as physical location, function, and hardware type). To keep the number of clients from becoming unwieldy, the program lets you create groups to manage them. (Apple recommends a wired connection for the administrator Mac.) Furthermore, if you plan to carry out functions that require more bandwidth, such as transferring files, Apple Remote Desktop will perform better on a switched network than on a shared one. For many functions, such as observation or control of remote workstations, Apple Remote Desktop requires either a wired Ethernet or wireless 802.11b network. Apple Remote Desktop works on networks composed of workstations running OS 8.1 to OS X 10.1 or later, and it requires a Mac running OS X 10.1 or later for administration. First, you’ll want to make sure your network fits Apple’s specifications. Planning an Apple Remote Desktop deployment is straightforward, provided you take some time to read Apple’s documentation. But these features come with some problems: Apple Remote Desktop suffers from some annoying peculiarities in setup, and it’s missing essentials that would allow it to live up to its potential. For situations like these, Apple Remote Desktop 1.0’s unique combination of features provides remote control of client Macs, the ability to distribute files over a network, and some well-conceived tools that let classroom instructors explore new teaching methods. Or you’re an IT help-desk staffer, and your end users don’t know the cursor from the Finder, so they’re not about to configure their own software installations. ![]() You’re a teacher, and your rambunctious sixth graders are paying attention to everything but the task you want them to be doing.
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