Filed under: Macworld, Software, Video
Show floor video: Webex lets you collaborate across platforms
So let's say you've got a Panther machine on your DSL connection with a firewall, and another computer across town running Windows 98 on a dual-ISDN connection, but you really need to control the Mac from the PC. No dice, right? According to Webex, this might just be possible,* although your experience won't be a zippy thrill-ride.Webex uses a subscription-based tool to allow remote access across computers, and at Macworld they were talking about Mac-to-PC friendliness. Scott had a chat and wound up with pricing (it's as cheap as $10.35/month), a website (pcnow.com), and the aforementioned horrific scenario of connectivity. Oh, and they've got iPhone compatibility of a sort, just be aware of the limitations.
*In theory, Webex engineers say a 56k connection will allow connectivity. The specs also provide compatibility with Panther and Win98 on the low end. Note I said "low end" which means the performance won't be anything close to a high-speed connection and some more current OS'es.
Full video explanation after the jump.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bruce said 2:12PM on 1-27-2008
Or you could just run hamachi (free) on both machines, and then VNC into the mac, since any mac with 10.5 runs a VNC server in the back ground automatically. You also would be able to see your iTunes shared music between both computers.
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Cabbage said 3:06PM on 1-27-2008
Thanks but I'll pay $0 for LogMeIn Free for Mac
https://secure.logmein.com/products/free/mac/
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mail said 3:53PM on 1-27-2008
Agreed - I really dont see the benefit of this over LogMeIn, its free and works great. Been using it for years - and the Mac version also works a treat.
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Adam said 4:07PM on 1-27-2008
We use this at work and it is gold to me. Send customer to .webex.com and enter meeting code "xxx-xxx-xxx."
When it saves me from getting on a plane, I put in the value saved and I look good (or less bad than when I book a last-minute flight to BUR from YYZ on a Monday!). There's several different kinds of consoles you can invite people to... A meeting collaboration tool, interactive training, or a very simple remote-control support session. There's integrated VoIP and it WAS integrated with our teleconference provider (InterCall) but that seems to have disappeared. You could see and interact with a landline caller in the web interface. Webcam support blah blah blah. Its like an Apple, product, it just works. If it stops working, there's a phone number where I can go to yell. See the H&R Block ads: "Honey, why don't you ask the box for help?"
If my company switches to another vendor I'll be raising hell :) This product is road-warrior techie approved. (80%+ of my time is in the field)
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NoTomorrow said 4:21PM on 1-27-2008
Mac (to PC): So, come here often?
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Andrew Muller said 9:14PM on 1-27-2008
It's possible with Adobe Acrobat Connect, via the Flash Player, to share application/desktop between PC & Mac on connections better than dial-up.
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Jonathan Puddle said 12:46AM on 1-28-2008
Ahh, VNC? Free... fast. Sooo multi-platform.
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airmanchairman said 6:06AM on 1-28-2008
I use Webex at work to allow our telecoms platform support log in to our nodes and investigate/resolve problems. I use LogMeIn at work to communicate with my home PCs on my network, and VNC from them onto my Linux boxes.
They all work a treat, but it must be said that VNC and LogMeIn have a free use option as well...
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Genius Jones said 12:29PM on 1-30-2008
LogMeIn 4tw.
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