For Mac-centric sysadmins in a Windows-flavored world, there are a few essential tools: patience, humility, and RDC. Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection client is the easiest way for anyone on OS X to manage Windows servers near and far, and the truth is it works pretty well -- not perfectly, but capably. You can trade clipboard contents, print to your Mac-connected printers, and even share your Mac's local hard drives back to the Windows host for speedy file transfers. The last full release of RDC, however, was 1.0.3 back in 2004 -- sans Universal Binary, doesn't play well with Vista, and generally lacks pizazz.
A shiny new version 2 of RDC, rewritten from the ground up as an Intel-native app, has been in beta for months now, and it shows great promise; it's got full compatibility with the latest rev of the RD protocol, and it's downright snappy. One problem though: the beta officially expired today (March 31), and on each launch users are being prompted with the download dialog above (good luck downloading the "Lastest Version"). There isn't a new build yet, according to the Mac BU, and it's safe to keep using this beta; the nagging is annoying but not functionally problematic, and the team is working to quickly deliver a final edition.
Meanwhile, if you're being driven batty by the repeated and futile update dialogs, check out my favorite RDC stand-in: CoRD, the Mac OS X version of the open-source rdp tool. It may not have all the bells and whistles of the official tool (
Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-31-2008 @ 10:12PM
Yazdgerd said...
I hope they change that icon too!
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3-31-2008 @ 11:00PM
Designr said...
Wow! Kinda like Office X/2004/2008... Late and Half-Baked.
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3-31-2008 @ 11:21PM
Blackwolfz said...
Not true, I can copy and paste from the clipboard using CorD. I actually find it to be more useful than the MS client as it can save in a drawer. While I agree it doesn't have all the bells and whistles, I've gone away from the MS client completely for my IT position.
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4-01-2008 @ 2:23AM
Rick said...
I just found CoRD a couple of weeks ago, and I've since abandoned the official Remote Desktop client, too. For some reason the official client has always refused to connect to the Windows box on my LAN at home unless I tunneled through another Linux box first. CoRD works without jumping through those hoops.
http://cord.sourceforge.net/
3-31-2008 @ 11:36PM
Jesse said...
Do you guys have problems connecting to Windows Server 2008 with Cord?
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3-31-2008 @ 11:39PM
Blackwolfz said...
I haven't had any issues connecting to a 2000 server, 2003, or 2008. It has worked fantastic for us.
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4-01-2008 @ 12:03AM
core said...
CoRD is cool, but
imac /~/ file `which rdesktop`
/usr/local/bin/rdesktop: Mach-O executable i386
imac /~/ rdesktop -xl -f dave
also works, but neither of them have sound redirection, so no remote pandora for us RDC 2.0 wanabees
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4-01-2008 @ 1:58AM
AlphaTeam said...
This is some sick joke. RDC 1 is so sh tty.
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4-01-2008 @ 3:47AM
Brian said...
Could MS be any more moronic. Even the worst programers in the world can afford a diary and get a procedure in place not just let a product become less than useful. As ever negative feedback on their blog was blocked and warm glowing praise from "concerned citizens" (Microsoft employees) saying how much they love it doesn't cut the mustard.
Is it really that hard to time out when a new version is released or have a plan to release another beta until the full version goes live.
I have seen some rank amateurism in my time but this defiantly makes the top ten.
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4-01-2008 @ 4:37AM
potato said...
Is this a real surprise? Microsoft is getting more and more reluctant to push productivity tools on OS X since it became *real* competition for Windows. Office 2008 is a steaming pile of crap (except slow, and crashy), and now it looks like the RDC guys missed their own deadline!
Just use rdesktop. It works fine for me, and has never complained about any licensing issues.
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4-01-2008 @ 6:33AM
Elias said...
I wish they'd just re-release Beta2 without the timebomb.
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4-01-2008 @ 6:37AM
ramond said...
Wow Cord is an excellent replacement, thanks for pointing me at that. I love how you can switch between servers using the drawer. And by the way clipboard sharing does work, awesome!!!
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4-01-2008 @ 8:11AM
Adam S said...
Shouldn't they have just recompiled the same beta release without the time bomb expiration date? Or does Mac BU not understand customer service?
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4-01-2008 @ 9:13AM
maccomposer said...
Just downloaded and played with it. It's a great tool! Seems faster than RDC. I'm dumping RDC.
Thanks for sharing the tool with the community.
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4-01-2008 @ 9:23AM
andrew said...
For CoRD users who want to still use MS's RDC client, consider using RDC Menu - to get multiple RDC connections at the same time: http://www.xutils.com/rdcmenu/
I love it!
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4-01-2008 @ 9:28AM
Tony said...
The killer for Cord for me was the lack of support for ctrl-tab, which is kind of a biggie when you're developing in visual studio. Otherwise it seemed OK. The official RDC feels faster too, although it's pretty close. Just wish MS would get off their asses and release the final version.
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4-01-2008 @ 11:58AM
Cowicide said...
One thing that embarassing... Microsoft's RDC allows you to print locally from stuff you pull up on the remote server (it's spotty especially with HP printers, but it can work at least). Apple Remote Desktop does NOT!! At all! Lame, Apple... lame.
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4-01-2008 @ 12:25PM
kurt.tappe said...
There is a long list of things about ARD that is lame. My latest is that when you push a package to 100 Macs and 33% of them fail, there's no "Retry failed pushes" feature; you must manually select the 33 that failed (sorting by success does not work!) and repush. And then repush to the 10 of those that fail. And the 4 of those that fail. And no reason is ever given for the failures!!
4-01-2008 @ 2:13PM
andrew said...
Did anyone notice that when it asks you to upgrade it says Lastest Version?
Hire some proofreaders MS
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4-01-2008 @ 5:48PM
Giancarlo Gomez said...
Thank You! Than You! Thank You! CoRD rocks! Microsoft should do what they always do now and copy this program since theirs is a total piece of crap!!!! At least that is one thing they do good .... carbon copy great programs and OS's.
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