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Does anyone know of a free RDP Server available for Mac OS X which does not use VNC, I have a Mac mini, which I dont put to good use , because I currently use it through VNC which is very slow. I looked at xrdp, which looks like linux based and also uses vnc to simulate it, so I dont think that it fits my requirement.

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Would you check the VNC path? There is UltraVNC which works on Java. Comparison of remote desktop software would probably help you pick the one suitable – nik Aug 20 '09 at 4:46
I can watch video over Airport using Apple Remote Desktop, which is VNC, and as long as I turn down the quality by one notch, it is smooth. So, consider turning down the quality (which, IIRC, was just the bit depth), and see if that does well enough for you. – Matthew Schinckel Aug 22 '09 at 11:16
is there a particular platform (client side) that you want to support connecting from, or do you want generic connectivity. ie. do you just want to connect to your mac mini from another mac, or do you want to be able to connect from any OS? – Robert S Ciaccio Aug 1 '10 at 20:41
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No Machine would be the answer. I use if for Linux and it far out performs VNC. They are working on a server for the Mac (nomachine.com/fr/view.php?id=FR12D01577). – paul Mar 30 '11 at 16:32
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7 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

The only RDP servers I've ever found for OSX are Aqua Connect Terminal Server and iRAPP. Aqua Connect is only free if you can get by with the Tiger edition, and costs $249 otherwise for the Leopard / Snow Leopard edition. iRAPP is $79.

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up vote 3 down vote

The reason that RDP is so fast is that it sends render commands over the network rather than actual screen images - so the client computer is actually rendering the screen. The render commands are small, so they can be moved more quickly than screen images. The comparable thing for OS X would be X11 remote sessions. OS X doesn't use X11 natively, though, so this could be prohibitively difficult to configure.

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Except that in my experience, X11 remote sessions are terribly slow over an internet link. It wasn't designed to handle any kind of latency that you might find on the internet, stopping it from using the full available bandwidth. In my experience, from best to worst performance, is RDP > NoMachine NX > VNC > X11. – davr Jan 28 '10 at 0:18
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up vote 1 down vote

All mac remote connectivity solutions that I'm familiar with use VNC as the underlying connectivity component.

Timbuktu, Apple's own Remote Desktop, etc... they all use VNC.

You could try some fancy X11 redirection through SSH, but I think the installation/configuration hassle would exceed the value of the system.

If you're interested you might check out: http://developer.apple.com/Darwin/runningX11.html

Or search for XORG Redirection MAC or X11 Redirection MAC

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up vote 1 down vote

Are you looking specifically for something to use with the Windows Remote Desktop Connection program or just generally trying to solve the problem of accessing your Mac remotely?

If it's the latter, I asked a similar question. The discussion there highlights a number of options.

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your question is pretty much what i want, the fastest way to access a Mac, but i dont think logmein will be the fastest when i have the mac just few meters away for me (or say another room). Usage of VNC will make the mac effects sluggish. so i am looking at a solution which makes accessing fast enough so that i consider using it actively. – Dinesh Manne Aug 20 '09 at 11:42
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Yeah, logmein wouldn't be the right solution within the same LAN – Doug Harris Aug 20 '09 at 14:35
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up vote 1 down vote

If you've been using the in-built Apple VNC Server on your Mac mini, then try running VineServer instead.

It can often be quicker, especially if you reduce the colour depth, as long as you don't have unrealistic expectations such as being able to watch moving video.

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up vote 0 down vote

TeamViewer has a Mac server/client version. I use it to connect from a PC to a Mac. It's very easy to set up and is free for non-commercial use. Can't beat it.

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up vote 0 down vote

XRDP is a server for creating GUI sessions on Mac, Windows and Linux with an RDP-Client. You need no GUI Login on the Linux (Server). You can also run level 3.

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