Apple ’s long awaited update of its outback background management software is a massive acclivity , with dick that will make most IT professionals drivel . Whether it is used to wangle a few Macs in a modest stage business or grand of computers at an educational institution or large pot , Apple Remote Desktop 3 ( ARD ) is idealistic for exploiter who need to support multiple computers on a meshing . Though it is not perfect , form the jump from version 2 is well worth it .
IT professionals have come to expect potent distant screen background management feature article , but most casual Mac users would be astonished at what Apple Remote Desktop 3 can actually do . Want to install practical program updates , fount , or templates on 100 networked information processing system ? No problem . Want to show a coworker in Belgium how to use Excel , step - by - step — and you ’re in Los Angeles ? Ditto . Need to monitor what 30 students are doing in a computer research laboratory ? tardily . While I think the last interlingual rendition ( ) was powerful , many of Apple Remote Desktop 3 ’s new features are dumbfounding .
The first melioration is the addition of distant Spotlight searching . Most Tiger user are used to search their computer with Spotlight . With ARD 3 , you could search for a data file on distant reckoner running Tiger just as well as your own . Once you find it , you may copy it to your electronic computer . ( However , I did run into a false warning when I did this — one of the bugs I experienced in my testing . )
Apple Remote Desktop has always have you visually monitor ARD or Virtual connection Computing - enable computer . Apple has included a Remote Desktop widget with this release that gives you an instant view of remote computer through Dashboard , without even having to set up the ARD curriculum .
In Apple Remote Desktop 2 , you could only simulate filing cabinet to a remote figurer ; it was a one - manner street . reading 3 has added Remote Drag and Drop and Remote Copy and Paste function , so you could now copy distant file cabinet by just scuff them to and from the remote window . This works well once you get the hang of the resistance encountered when moving from the distant computer ’s boundary to your skipper information processing system . The first few time I tried to copy files from a outside reckoner to my MacBook Pro , I found that my file halted abruptly at the border of the distant windowpane . You need to drag a file with government agency to break through , not an easy chore with the MacBook Pro ’s trackpad . However , using a mouse helped . Remote Copy and Paste also lets you lend cloth to the clipboard of either your decision maker Mac or the remote Mac , which can be very utilitarian for copying schoolbook between computers , for instance .
Since the musical theme behind Apple Remote Desktop is to administer Macs from afar , the aspect of manually setting the ARD license on each computer seems airheaded , specially if you are in charge of hundreds of electronic computer . That ’s a tidy sum of walk . Now , ARD 3 users can configure the preference options for managed distant computer and even create new user describe easily , without ever touching the remote computer .
Apple Remote Desktop 3 contribute extensive Automator support , so you’re able to ramp up action to handle mundane direction labor . Over 30 Automator action are include with the software program .
One useful lineament , specially when play on a meshwork with many laptops , is ARD ’s AutoInstall of software packages . With AutoInstall , ARD load the software packages in an update queue ; on-line computers are updated immediately , while portable Macs receive their update when they finally connect to the web .
Apple Remote Desktop 3 can beget a horde of reports on ironware and user logarithm , and many other report card , which can help IT departments better care their resources . I found the program Usage reporting sport slightly underwhelming , however . I ran a report card about a calculator I had used for more than 10 minute , run more than 12 political platform during that fourth dimension . Yet , the app Usage report prove only one app : my screen recoverer . The usage account log when an software launches and quits , and since the program were launched the premature day and remained open , the report was empty . Not all that useful .
For increase security measure , Apple Remote Desktop 3 can optionally cypher all communication and single file transfer of training between computing machine with 128 - bit AES ( Advanced Encryption Standard ) encryption . This course slows down data point exchange , but it is a necessary refuge measure in many embodied environments .
Macworld’s buying advice
Apple Remote Desktop 3 is an essential platform for any IT professional who needs to manage Macs remotely . elevate to version 3 is a no - brainer . Despite some bug , and a relatively weak coverage lineament , the sheer number of dick available — include Spotlight searching , drag - and - bead copying , and AutoInstall — is amazing .
[ Anton Linecker is a technical advisor and writer free-base in Los Angeles . He uses Apple Remote Desktop every twenty-four hours to manage more than 40 Macs . ]
