Use Your Mac To Connect And Run Any Mac Or PC Anywhere Else In The World

Color me a big fan of a not well know technology known as VNC which connects and gives you control of one computer from another.

Think of VNC as screen sharing from your Mac to another Mac, or iPad back to your Mac. Or, to Windows PCs. Think about the possibilities. Your Mac can control another Mac or PC anywhere else in the world. And, yes, there’s a Mac app for that.

Jump Around The World

VNC can make you a little crazy. I have VNC apps on my iPhone and iPad, which connect to my Mac and Windows PC. But you can do the same from your Mac to another Mac or PC.

There are many VNC apps these days, but one of the more elegant and sophisticated is Jump Desktop.

What I like about Jump is the Automatic Setup button with step-by-step instructions; easy enough for my parents to setup.

Once connected, Mac to Mac, or Mac to PC, you get a secure connection which brings up the other computer’s Desktop to a window on your Mac.

Encryption is setup by default, but there are options. Use Mac keyboard shortcuts on a Windows PC, but easily switch from the Mac to a Windows keyboard layout.

It helps to have a fast internet connection, though.

Jump Desktop VNC is a good way to take your Mac on the road, and be able to connect to your Windows PC back in the office to get files or update documents.

Other than having the remote screen refresh a little slow at times, Jump Desktop works great.

The faster your internet connection to the remote computer, the better.

Connecting to a remote Mac or PC– once you’ve set up the connection– is nothing more than a click. You can also print to a Wi-Fi printer (needs to be AirPrint compatible).

Actually, you can connect to multiple computers at the same time (make sure to have plenty of the aforementioned fast bandwidth, though).

The onscreen controls give you options to zoom in or pan the remote screen (you’ll need it if you’re on a MacBook with small screen, connected to a desktop Mac or Windows PC with a larger screen).

Any gotcha? Yes. Sometimes you’ll run into an odd router configuration, or an old router, and connecting can be problematic. But when it works, it works with a click.

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