Remote Desktop for Mac OS X
I am trying to use Remote Desktop to connect to my PowerBook from work. How can I connect to my PowerBook running Mac OS X remotely from Windows XP?
Microsoft makes a Remote Desktop client for Mac OS X which allows you to connect from Mac OS X to Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2003 server. Unfortunately, this software is client only, meaning it doesn't provide a host connection for Windows XP to connect to your Mac. The Mac Remote Desktop client software is free, so it's not without advantages. Apple sells Apple Remote Desktop for small businesses and enterprise installations wanting to connect between Mac machines, which uses free third-party software to connect to Windows XP. Apple charges $299 for 10 client connections or $499 for an unlimited client solution. Fortunately, the best solution for connecting between Mac and Windows bypasses Apple's solution altogether as freeware.
VNC (short for Virtual Network Computing) provides a desktop sharing solution across platforms. The software was originally designed by AT&T Bell Laboratories. VNC is available for Mac OS X, Linux, Unix and most versions of Linux, providing a way to share desktops across most platforms. While the absolute security of VNC is somewhat debatable since using the SSH (secure shell) connection features with Windows can be somewhat complicated, it doesn't send passwords in the clear, meaning someone would need to actively seek out your VNC installation and know how to crack it. For VNC to work properly, you need VNC server software on the machine you want to connect to and client software on the machine you are connecting from. Some of the more popular VNC clients include:
OSXvnc
RealVNC
TightVNC
UltraVNC