How do I use my mac to remote desktop to a XP Home computer

March 13, 2008 8:19 PM

What is a free solution to do remote desktop to an XP Home computer from a Mac? This is basically for remote tech support for family members
posted by Scientifik to computers & internet (10 comments total)

Microsoft has made a Remote Desktop client for Mac available for free on their site.
posted by churl at 8:23 PM on March 13, 2008

I have looked at this unfortunately it does not support XP Home
posted by Scientifik at 8:32 PM on March 13, 2008

Here's how to enable remote desktop in XP Home.
posted by Jairus at 8:37 PM on March 13, 2008

Microsoft's Remote Desktop Client app has always worked well, but don't forget that VNC is supported on just about every major platform.
posted by Mikey-San at 8:41 PM on March 13, 2008

VNC would probably do what you're looking for, although I think VNC sends everything in clear text, so you may want to tunnel it (I could be wrong about that, hopefully someone will correct me if I am). Here's a blog post that has a bunch of links to servers and clients for both Mac and Windows (you can google around for more). You'll need a server for the XP machine and a client for the Mac.
posted by chndrcks at 8:42 PM on March 13, 2008

LogMeIn?
posted by IAmBroom at 8:42 PM on March 13, 2008

Seconding LogMeIn. I use it PC to PC (not on a Mac), but it works beautifully.
posted by Joleta at 8:59 PM on March 13, 2008

Try Bosco's Screen Share
posted by diode at 10:03 PM on March 13, 2008

I use LogMeIn (free version) on my MacBook Pro to access my XP Home desktop. Works fine for basic tasks!
posted by newfers at 2:22 AM on March 14, 2008

There's also Copilot, but they only do free day pases on the weekends.
posted by bhance at 6:28 PM on March 14, 2008