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Ask TUAW: Silencing iPhone notifications, remote control a PC, printing over the internet, and more
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about controlling a PC over the internet, silencing iPhone email notifications at night, replacing a MacBook Pro SuperDrive with a hard drive, printing over the internet, setting iCal as the default calendar, and more. As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Leave your questions for next week in the comments section at the end of this post. When asking a question, please include which machine you're using and what version of Mac OS X is installed on it (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Client for Snow Leopard
Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection Client is a free utility which allows you to connect to Windows computers running Windows from computers running Mac OS X (versions 10.4.9 or later). For those of us who help manage Windows computers, it's a handy tool to have around, much like Screen Sharing (or Apple Remote Desktop) for connecting from one Mac to another. Fortunately I don't have to use it all that often, but last night when I tried it for the first time in a while, it crashed. I relaunched it, and it crashed again. Since I'm a slow learner, I tried it one last time. Yup, crashed a third time. Assuming this wasn't some Halloween prank, I wondered if maybe I had an outdated version of the app, since I hadn't used it since Snow Leopard came out. I took a quick look around and found that version 2.0.1 had been released in mid-August. I downloaded the new version, ran the installer (I'm not sure why it needs an installer for what seems like a self-contained application, but it does) and the app launched as expected. The release notes don't say much about what is new in this version, and I didn't notice any new features (other than not crashing on Snow Leopard, which is a significant plus). If you ever need to connect to computers running Windows, this 7.8MB download is a good addition to your toolbox. Not all versions of Microsoft Windows support Remote Desktop Connections. For example, Windows XP "Professional" does, but the "Home" does not. Also, even for those versions of Windows which do support it, it is not enabled by default. If your version does not support it, you will need to find a VNC application which has a Windows 'server' and a Mac 'client'. [If you prefer an open-source alternative to the Microsoft client, check out the versatile and free CoRD. --Ed.]
Keepin' it real fake, part CLXXIII: 8-bit Xbox 360 / PS3 consoles only serve to dash dreams
We've seen some pretty low tricks when it comes to giving what appears to be a gaming console to a junior, but we're pleading -- nay, insisting -- that you don't ever buy in on either of these in an attempt to pull the wool over a kiddo's eyes. Straight from a shady warehouse in China comes Rodisson Technologies' totally ridiculous Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 clones, both of which can only play 8-bit titles. The worst part, however, isn't the complete lack of effort in knocking these systems off with any level of pride; rather, it's the 10,000 item minimum order quantity. Thanks, but no thanks.[Via technabob]Read - RDC Xbox 360Read - RDC PlayStation 3
Slot loading Xbox 360 enjoys its 15 minutes, heads to eBay
There's a good possibility you felt some sense of jealously when eying RDC's meticulously modded Xbox 360, and now you can act on said envy thanks to the supreme convenience of the online auction house known as eBay. That's right kids -- the slot loading Xbox 360 that was shown here just under a month ago is now on the auction block, and the $250 minimum bid means that you're paying a ridiculously small premium for all the blood, sweat and tears that were undoubtedly poured into this creation. Of course, that figure is apt to head skyward in a hurry, but maybe that would encourage you to get off your keister and craft one yourself. No time like the present to beef up that weakening DIY muscle.[Via Xbox-Scene, thanks Aguiluz]
Xbox 360 modded with slot loading DVD drive, fire vision, mind control
This Xbox 360 mod may be a little less dramatic than some we've seen, but we think that anyone who's had their nerves rattled by the incessant banging of their console's optical drive tray will really appreciate it. RDC over at the benheck.com forum has installed a slot loader into his Xbox the hard way -- by gutting the innards of his console's DVD-ROM and installing them in the case of his old iMac's slot loader. After taking everything apart, it was a simple matter of rebuilding the spindle, rigging up a tiny breadboard with a few transistors, cramming the new Frankenstein drive into the game system, and -- of course -- finishing up with some handy case mod. Sure, the whole affair seems needlessly complicated, but the end result looks pretty good to us. Catch a video of the finished business after the break.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection 2 now available
This is news that is certain to make Mac based Windows Admins (of which I am one) very happy: Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection 2 is finally out of beta. The final release includes all the new features that Microsoft added, some of the highlights include: The ability to open multiple instances of Remote Desktop without resorting to a hack (though I do believe that each connection spawns a new instance of the app itself). Redesigned UI Support for Network Level Authentication (which makes connections more secure) You can get more info about this release from the MacBU blog post. Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection 2 is free, and a Universal app. And as always, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the very capable CoRD, which is an open source replacement for Microsoft's tool.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac 2, Beta 3
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.
Remote Desktop Connection beta expired, new version still weeks away
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 (no clipboard sharingclipboard sharing, print/disk forwarding just released in the 0.5 beta), but for managing a handful of simultaneous sessions to a bunch of servers, it's fast and fabulous.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
MacBU is alive, promises Universal RDC and file convertors
It appears the Microsoft Mac Business Unit is alive after all as they popped up with an announcement of coming attractions for "the week of July 30th." They'll finally be offering a Universal Binary of the Remote Desktop Client which allows you to control Windows computers from your Mac (thereby hopefully addressing some of Scott's concerns). In addition they're promising beta 2 of the much lamented Office 2007 file format converters with "a significant Word refresh and the addition of PowerPoint (.pptx)." In fact, the new General Manager of the MacBU Craig Eisler recently introduced himself and called for more "dialog" with customers. At least it's nice to know that things do seem to be progressing up there in the long wait for a Universal version of Office. Thanks, Space Taker.
Microsoft, please fix Remote Desktop Connection for Mac
I live something of a double life. By night I am a highly influential, and very sexy, Apple blogger/pundit but by day I am a highly skilled Windows System Administrator (though I'm still very sexy). Thanks to the confluence of a nice boss and Intel Macs I am able to do all my work on a shiny new MacBook Pro. However, there is one application that I find myself using, and cursing, on a daily basis: Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection.Don't get me wrong, I think it is fantastic that MS makes this program available for the Mac, but it just wasn't created for someone who needs to connect to multiple Windows machines in any way. I know that the MacBU is hard at work on a Universal version of Remote Desktop Connection, so I thought I would list my major gripes with the program to help them focus on what I want (and isn't that what they truly care about?): No concurrent connections: Often, I need to log into more than one Windows machine at the same time. This is very easy to do within Windows itself, thanks to the magic of MMCs (that's Microsoft Management Consoles to you), but nearly impossible using RDC on the Mac. The client only supports one connection at a time, so you're out of luck if you are troubleshooting a cluster with 2 Windows nodes. The work around is to create a number of duplicates of the program itself, so you can have multiple copies of the app running. This is lame. Disconnecting from a remote machine quits the app: This is the most annoying aspect of RDC. So, I can't connect to more than one machine at the same time, no big deal. I'll just connect to one after the other. Sadly, RDC quits the moment you disconnect from a remote machine. This means you need to relaunch the program to connect to another machine. This is stupid. Other than those two major complaints, I am very happy with RDC and hope to see a number of improvements in the forthcoming update (No, I don't have any idea when it is coming out).
