Remember a few days ago we reported that the Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Client beta had expired, making users deal with an annoying, 'Why don't you download the new version' screen when no new version was available? Yeah, that was no fun. Luckily, the Mac BU has recently released Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac 2 Beta 3. The biggest improvement in this new beta is that it doesn't expire, so users who need to connect to Windows boxes from OS X won't be left in the cold as the actual ship date slips later and later.
Also new in the Beta 3 are full help files (which are localized in a few languages) as well as support for non-English keyboards.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-15-2008 @ 12:41PM
Andy said...
CoRD (http://cord.sourceforge.net/) also doesn't expire and does a fine job, supporting tab interfaces when the MS client wouldn't even support multiple connections.
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4-15-2008 @ 12:50PM
Maxintech said...
I agree that. Code it's better.
4-15-2008 @ 12:58PM
Catapult said...
Beta3 introduces weird keyboard problems with the Option (Alt) key, at least for me using German keyboard and language settings with a Windows XP machine.
Seems when you press the Option key and release it, only the keypress is recognized while its release is not.
Beta 2 worked just fine.
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4-16-2008 @ 3:09AM
Adrian Bool said...
Yes, Alt problems on Beta 3 for me too on a UK keyboard. Perhaps time to try CoRD again - but does allow copy & aste between environments... time to see I guess...
4-21-2008 @ 2:49PM
Ramon Valero Crespo said...
Definitely CoRD is a must to have,....
Sorry again Microsoft!
4-15-2008 @ 2:06PM
kurt.tappe said...
Add me to the list of users who no longer care what Microsoft comes up with....CoRD (http://cord.sourceforge.net) is so much better, smaller, faster that there's no reason to use anything else.
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4-15-2008 @ 2:13PM
bart said...
The interface of Cord is better yes, but the performance of Microsoft RDC is much much better.
For example, scrolling through a large document goes much faster in RDC
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4-15-2008 @ 2:23PM
QuakerProf said...
Any thoughts on Cord vs. LogMeIn (free version)?
I currently use LogMeIn to remotely access a mixed set of computers- an aluminum iMac at work, my mother's PC desktop, my wife's PC desktop at her work, and my mother's PC laptop. I can access any of these from either my MacBook Pro laptop or any other PC or Mac.
However, it's a bit resource intensive. I've never used Cord.
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4-15-2008 @ 2:36PM
Gar said...
The link to download in this the article just sat and the download wouldn't kick off. I had better luck with: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx
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4-15-2008 @ 2:58PM
richard said...
CoRD doesn't work well with Vista, don't think it fully supports RDP v6.0. The MS RDP Client however, does (as much as it pains me to say it).
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4-15-2008 @ 3:45PM
potato said...
If you don't mind going through the command line, rdesktop is a full-featured client also, free and open source. Sorry MS, I've switched and not switching back.
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4-15-2008 @ 3:58PM
Frank Furter said...
I vote CoRD too. Microsoft can take their expiring betas and lack of Mac attention and SHOVE IT!!!! Woohooo!!!!
But really, CoRD works fine.
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4-15-2008 @ 5:19PM
Able-X said...
When my beta expired, asktheadmin.com pointed us all to CoRD, and it works FAR better than MS's client ever did on Mac. Count me among the people who don't care what MS releases anymore.
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4-15-2008 @ 10:26PM
Rynoman said...
CoRD rocks. I tried M$ RDC to connect to a Windoze network, and it couldn't handle the program I needed to run from the remote computer b/c of some resolution size issues. Tried CoRD on a whim and haven't looked back.
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4-16-2008 @ 3:32AM
Hamish said...
Does Cord do remote printing i.e. print to my local printer?
Previous versions didn't.
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4-18-2008 @ 6:18AM
Brian said...
The new Cord beta is 1.743 million times better than RDCC which continues to behave like a nine year old girl...
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