[happypork]

Apple Debuts Apple Remote Desktop

Remote Desktop Management Tool Now Available for Mac OS X

CUPERTINO, Calif., March 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) (Nasdaq: AAPL) today announced Apple Remote Desktop(TM) for Mac(R) OS X software, which enables users, teachers and administrators to remotely manage other Mac(R) desktops anywhere on a local network, AirPort(R) wireless network or across the Internet.

With Apple Remote Desktop, teachers can view students' computer screens, perform group demonstrations and help individuals with real-time screen-sharing, text chat and the "request attention" command. System administrators can provide remote assistance, get comprehensive system profiles, reconfigure system settings and quickly and easily distribute software applications across hundreds of computers -- all from one central location over both Ethernet and AirPort wireless networks.

"Apple Remote Desktop is the easiest way for teachers and administrators to support Mac users in the classroom and remote workgroups," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Powerful features like screen sharing, system monitoring and software installation over AirPort or the Internet make this a 'must have' Mac OS X tool for every teacher and administrator."

Apple Remote Desktop supports multiple levels of administrator access, each with its own password, providing a secure way for teachers or department-level administrators to assist users while restricting privileges for deleting items or changing system settings. Teachers and administrators can also remotely control computers by locking screens, starting, restarting, sleeping or waking computers on an individual basis or for an entire workgroup or computer lab.

Apple Remote Desktop also includes:

-- fast and easy software distribution, enabling administrators to copy new or updated applications to multiple systems with drag-and-drop simplicity;

-- communication tools such as real-time text chat and the "request attention" command, creating one-to-one interaction between teachers and students in a classroom or administrators and users across a network;

-- system monitoring which enables administrators and teachers to spot and fix problems by remotely viewing and then taking control of a user's screen;

-- the ability to observe up to 250 screens on a rotating cycle of four screens at a time by administrators; and

-- the ability to capture system profiles including installed hardware and software to create detailed reports.

Pricing and Availability

Apple Remote Desktop is available now through The Apple Store(R) (www.apple.com), at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $299 (US) for the 10-client edition and $499 (US) for the unlimited client version. Special education pricing can be found at www.apple.com/education/store.

The administration and client system for Apple Remote Desktop is designed to run on all Power Mac(TM) G4 and G3 computers, including PowerBook(R) G4, PowerBook G3, iMac(R) and iBook(R) and requires an Ethernet or AirPort network connection. The administration system runs on Mac OS X version 10.1, or later, and the client version supports Mac OS 8.1 through Mac OS 9.2, and Mac OS X v10.1 and later.

[ 03-14-2002: Message edited by: happypork ]

[JorgeLL]

Gee, what a great idea, charge 300 dollars for something XP Pro includes in all machines... can't wait

[mitchell_pgh]

Very true... they should have made it free to download for a 1 to 1 version, and $500 for the server/admin version... then it would have been ingerested.

[XPBlows]

soon.... OSXvnc....

[Diggory Laycock]

What do you mean 'soon'?

This is the interesting bit

System administrators can provide remote assistance, get comprehensive system profiles, reconfigure system settings and quickly and easily distribute software applications across hundreds of computers

http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/

[ 03-14-2002: Message edited by: Diggory Laycock ]

[ChaChi Boy]

Who saw this one comming?

[ChaChi Boy]

Originally posted by JorgeLL:
<STRONG>Gee, what a great idea, charge 300 dollars for something XP Pro includes in all machines... can't wait </STRONG>

You're a moron. Did you actually READ what this software can do for the love of god? It KILLS XP's crap.

[philzilla]

just looks like Timbuktu on crack, to me

[EddieDesignsDotCom]

what does Timbukto do?

[techweenie1]

Still cannot beat paying nothing for OSXvnc.

[zazou]

4 at once with a 250 cycle.

Tiered Admin. WOW.


This is a bit moe than TBT or the PC Anywhere app for XP. And comparing it to XP built in DT remote viewer is like comparing a shopping cart to a Semi.

[KidRed]

Originally posted by JorgeLL:
<STRONG>Gee, what a great idea, charge 300 dollars for something XP Pro includes in all machines... can't wait </STRONG>

mm, how much does XP Pro cost? More then OS X, right?

(not that I care, or use this, just playing devil's advocate)

[EddieDesignsDotCom]

from apple.com/remotedesktop

Apple Remote Desktop enables a teacher to keep an eye on all the computer screens in a classroom or lab, distribute software upgrades, perform group demos, and provide online assistance with real-time text communications for students needing individual attention.

why? you trying to tell me this won't slow down sh!t like, incredibly!?

wow I am dumbfounded, this is a shocker,,, what have Apple been up to recently!? WHERE IS 10.2 DAMMIT!!

are they trying to promote software piracy with that price tag!? where is a 1 on 1 client lisence available?


as companies get 'bigger' they think they can take the piss - by the sound of the quality of software recently,,, take Adobe for example.

[drengy]

$500 is very cheap for an UNLIMITED license. My company has 50 Mac users - $10 bucks a user and now I can distributed software from my desk! VERY worth it, and very cheap.

And WinXP Pro costs more than OS X right?

[Oneota]

Grrrr.....

This ain't that revolutionary.

Apple just Carbonized Network Assistant (which used to be a little freebie thrown in with ASIP/Mac OS X Server) and started charging and extra $300-$500 for it. Damn them! I'd been told by our Apple Rep that Network Assistant for OS X was 'coming'. He didn't say SQUAT about us having to fork out half a grand for it!!

That makes me very, very unhappy.

[drengy]

Hey EddieDesigns - think about the school example you just quoted. $500 is unlimited users - school of a few hundred kids - $1-3 a user. That is NOT expensive.

[EddieDesignsDotCom]

huh? do you work for Apple drengy? $10 a user? are they gonna pay to be watched by their teachers? I remember how dog slow our Macs were in college when we all simutaneously logged onto the central server at once - I mean this is the normal thing to do during a 2 hour session right?

XP costs more than OS X does it? does this include the price I paid for Public Beta AND OS 10.0.0 and the additional costs after that?

[ 03-14-2002: Message edited by: EddieDesignsDotCom ]

[EddieDesignsDotCom]

but why is this just aimed at schools? from what I have heard over the last 5 years coming from people fresh out of school, "Macs suck!"

and this is coming from an 8 year Mac loyal user.

[ 03-14-2002: Message edited by: EddieDesignsDotCom ]

[wil]

This is incredible. If you recall, there was a huge flap about kids using laptops in school to go online, play games, chat...anything but school work. This gives Apple a huge edge over any competitors. They didn't use binoculars as the image for nothing.

And...ultimately, we'll see a slim version that Apple's tech support uses. download the slim client and Apple's tech support can really get a sense of any problems you are having (provided those problems aren't keeping you from starting up and going online, etc.)

For businesses, I'm not sure. But that unlimited user price is pretty sweet. I find this extremely encouraging. Apple is taking bold and wonderful steps to secure their future.

[KaptainKaya]

Originally posted by EddieDesignsDotCom:
<STRONG>huh? do you work for Apple drengy? $10 a user? are they gonna pay to be watched by their student? I remember how dog slow our Macs were in college when we all simutaneously logged onto the central server at once - I mean this is the normal thing to do guring a 2 hour session right?

XP costs more than OS X does it? does this include the price I paid for Public Beta AND OS 10.0.0 and the additional costs after that? </STRONG>

Did you not get $29 off the regular price? And if you're a student, did you not get the price of $69 PLUS the $29 discount making it $49? Well, I for one did and am not complaining on bit.

[philzilla]

http://www.netopia.com/en-us/softwar...tb2/index.html

[Oneota]

Originally posted by wil:
<STRONG>But that unlimited user price is pretty sweet.</STRONG>

Not when one considers that the unlimited price used to be $0.

[drengy]

No I don't work for Apple, but I do work in the real world, where $500 is pocket change for any company with more than 10 people.

If this software is too expensive for you, then you don't need it.

I will buy this software tomorrow at work, install it on all my users computers, and the first time I have to update any piece of software after that, it will pay for itself in my saved time.

A school district could buy this software for $500 and install it on THOUSANDS of computers. How is that expensive? Plus there is an education discount!

[Oneota]

I should point out that I'm not saying the software isn't worth $500. It most certainly is. I'm just upset because I was told that anyone who paid for Mac OS X Server would get it free, because it used to be included with the ASIP license.

If I had been told up front that Network Assistant for OS X (Or Apple Remote Desktop, as I guess they're calling it now) was going to involve an extra charge, I would've been fine with that. I just don't like being misinformed.

[Edit: Spelling Correction]

[ 03-14-2002: Message edited by: Oneota ]

[wil]

From the FAQ:

Apple Remote Desktop is available in two versions: a 10-client edition with a suggested retail price of US$299 (education price US$149), and an unlimited-client edition with a suggested retail price of US$499 (education price US$299).

The more I read about it, the more impressed I am. They did some serious work on security and control issues. For instance:



[ 03-14-2002: Message edited by: wil ]

[scottiB]

--too slow on the draw--

[ 03-14-2002: Message edited by: scottiB ]

[Oneota]

Originally posted by scottiB:
<STRONG>It was only $0 if one purchased the server software. This is for situations where OS X Server is too much, yet an admin (most often a teacher that has 20+ iBooks in her class) can perform upgrades and eavesdropping.

I'd suppose that this would be rolled into OSX Server in the near future.</STRONG>

If that's true, there should be some way for those of us who have already purchased OS X Server to get this free. I would hope that Apple gives us this option in the very near future.

[LoadStar]

What REALLY sucks about this is that this is just Apple Network Assistant, renamed and with a $500 premium.

AppleShare IP included a copy of Network Assistant free of charge, and the client was included with all Mac OS 9 machines. This made it extremely easy for us to roll this product out, and is a great time saver for us.

Now, not only did Apple not offer any kind of upgrade price from ASIP to Mac OS X, but they also now expect us to pay again for this new product that should have been included free in the OS X Server license, and the only thing the new product brings to the party is OS X compatibility. That really sucks.

[SpeedRacer]

Originally posted by Oneota:
<STRONG>This ain't that revolutionary.Apple just Carbonized Network Assistant (which used to be a little freebie thrown in with ASIP/Mac OS X Server) and started charging and extra $300-$500 for it... </STRONG>

EXACTLY.

Anybody in SysAdmin knows dam well this is just an over-delayed release of the Network Assistant product that Apple has had since Mac OS 7.5 - the fact that its Carbon (not Cocoa) clearly indicates that it was NOT built from the ground up for OS X, but rather built upon the existing NA code base. There is nothing revolutionary about this at all... other than that Apple is now marketing it to broad audience and selling it outside of their server software.

Here's hoping it doesn't SUCK as bad as NA did on copying large amounts of data (multicasting) out to a multiple clients at once. If ARD carries on the tradition (and thus the limitations) of NA there is still plenty of market for more industrial strength tools like Timbuktu or VNC.

Speed

[Oneota]

Originally posted by wil:
<STRONG>
The more I read about it, the more impressed I am. They did some serious work on security and control issues. For instance:</STRONG>

Not to rain on your parade, but this is an almost direct Carbonization of Network Assistant, which has been out for over 5 years. It's still cool, but there doesn't appear to be anything *new* in this version, except OS X functionality and a UI that doesn't stink (the UI for NA was kinda poor, IMO).

[::maroma::]

BOOOHOOOOHOOOO!!! CRRYYY!! WAAAAAAAHHHH!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!

(............no offense, of course.)

sheesh.

[theolein]

This ties into something that made me susupiscious last night.
In this thread there was a discussion about why Quartz could not be used remotely like one can do with X11. On X11 (X Windows - Linux etc) you can start an xserver on a central server and login from any remote computer. i was puzzled as to why one couldn't do this with Quartz. So, what I know see is that what Apple has done is make a Quartz server so that one can access the Aqua gui of a remote machine. How long do you think it will be before someone brings out a hack to make a free version of this?

If this functionality is not in the present Quartz, I bet it will only need a small change to the system to make it possible.

[Oneota]

Originally posted by ::maroma:::
<STRONG>BOOOHOOOOHOOOO!!! CRRYYY!! WAAAAAAAHHHH!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!

(............no offense, of course.)

sheesh.</STRONG>

On the assumption that that comment was directed at me, let me reiterate why I'm upset:

If I had been told up front that Network Assistant for OS X (Or Apple Remote Desktop, as I guess they're calling it now) was going to involve an extra charge, I would've been fine with that. I just don't like being misinformed.

It's not because I don't feel I should have to pay for this. It's because I was *explicitly told by Apple* that I wouldn't.

[::maroma::]

On the assumption that that comment was directed at me...

Not really directed at anyone in particular. I was just trying to fit in to the general feeling of the thread.

(...no offense, of course.)

[wil]

I'm obviously not a SysAdmin. I've never used the old software. In fact, I knew that it existed, but certainly had no idea that it could handle all of the same stuff this "new" software can. Bout getting shafted cause Apple promised you this as part of a previous purchase...that sucks. If that is the case, you have a right to complain, moreover you have a right to recompensation.

However, on the bright side. I (obviously not a SysAdmin) DO know about this software! I DO know what it is capable of. I have nothing to compare it to and am IMPRESSED (still, even though I now know it's old news). I happen to represent the basic mindset/awareness of most teachers out there. I believe this little bad boy will sell readily and more importantly, I think this new marketing of an old product will breath life into Apple's education sales.

[wil]

blah, stupid back button.

[ 03-14-2002: Message edited by: wil ]

[::maroma::]

Bout getting shafted cause Apple promised you this as part of a previous purchase...that sucks.

Was it actually Apple who promised that this was going to be included as a free piece of software at a later date? Or was it some dude working at an Authorized Apple Retail store?

Just curious. Cuz yes, if it was indeed Apple, then they should offer some sort of compensation for this. If it was just some dude who you (you, meaning the general 'you') thought knew what the hell he was talking about, then I think the blame doesn't fall on Apple, but maybe 'you'.

?

[BlackGriffen]

Did network assistant include mirroring of what's happening on the remote computer? Does VNC or TBT? I'm not sure, since I've never used NA, VNC, or TBT, and I'm curious if this product actually has more features than the predecessor and what's already on the market.

To the person who claimed that the fact that it's carbon proves that it wasn't made for OSX: moki, sick em! Darn it, moki's a person, and not my attack dog. At any rate, there are some things that Carbon is actually better at than Cocoa. For instance, Snapz was coded from the ground up in Carbon because it was easier to do it that way than in Cocoa. From what moki has said, it is very difficult to wrestle with an object oriented framework if you want to do something that the makers of the framework hadn't anticipated. Having said that, it's probably true that Apple leveraged the old NA code base to make Remote Desktop, but so what? As long as Apple isn't trying for backwards compatibility with OS9, they can make it as OSX specialized as they please.

BlackGriffen

[theolein]

I'm also thinking of all the glorious security vulnerabilities that are going to be based on this. Does anyone know if Back orrifice has been ported to OSX yet?

[BlackGriffen]

Originally posted by theolein:
<STRONG>I'm also thinking of all the glorious security vulnerabilities that are going to be based on this. Does anyone know if Back orrifice has been ported to OSX yet?</STRONG>

Most of the security issues with things like Back Orifice are PEBKaC issues (problem exists between keyboard and chair) because Back Orifice only works as a hack when used with "social engineering," other than that, BO is just a remote admin tool like any other. As long as Apple requires admin passwords to turn on remote administration, has the features turned off by default, and warns the user about the existence of such features, that is about all Apple can do about it.

BlackGriffen

[Oneota]

Originally posted by ::maroma:::
<STRONG>

Was it actually Apple who promised that this was going to be included as a free piece of software at a later date? Or was it some dude working at an Authorized Apple Retail store?

Just curious. Cuz yes, if it was indeed Apple, then they should offer some sort of compensation for this. If it was just some dude who you (you, meaning the general 'you') thought knew what the hell he was talking about, then I think the blame doesn't fall on Apple, but maybe 'you'.

?</STRONG>

It was our area's Apple System Engineer, who draws an Apple paycheck and is in regular contact with the developers of every hardware/software product Apple makes.

[vegaboy]

I don't remember ANAT ever being free.

V3.5 was a separate package that you paid for like ARD
V4.x came with ASIP. You had to buy ASIP and it's license 10/500 allowing you to use ANAT for those users. If you did not run ASIP you had no choice but to buy ASIP, thus making v4.x the same price as the ASIP, ARD.

Now ARD comes along and you can buy it as a separate package again. I think this is great. I work in a very Windows centric company and there is no way the CTO will allow OS X server in. ARD allows me to do the support on the Mac's we have with out having to try and approve a Server Software purchase. As far as the price goes, our company is looking into products that do half of the things ARD does for 20k+. $500.00 bucks is chump change for a company looking for this type of solution. The only problem I have with the pricing is that it might be not be enough for some IT manager to approve the purchase.

[waffffffle]

FYI, the education price is $299 for the unlimited license version. They don't sell the other version on the education store.

I have a question about this tool. Could it be used to update all machines in one swoop? For instance if there's a new peice of software that needs to be updated on all of the iMacs on campus here (we have 30) can it be done ONE time, remotely, and have that change effect all 30 computers? Our school is desperately looking for an alternative to Assimilator for OS X and this may be it.

[maroma]

It was our area's Apple System Engineer, who draws an Apple paycheck and is in regular contact with the developers of every hardware/software product Apple makes.

Sounds like you shouldn't listen to him anymore.

But seriously, do you take that as an official statement from Apple? Because I would only be genuinely pissed at Apple if it was actually said by Apple in an official statement. Otherwise, I'd be either pissed at the dude who fed me that line, or at myself for believing it.

[Oneota]

Originally posted by vegaboy:
<STRONG>I don't remember ANAT ever being free.

V3.5 was a separate package that you paid for like ARD
V4.x came with ASIP. You had to buy ASIP and it's license 10/500 allowing you to use ANAT for those users. If you did not run ASIP you had no choice but to buy ASIP, thus making v4.x the same price as the ASIP, ARD.
</STRONG>

While that's true, I guess I figure it like this: Our ASIP 6.1 license cost the same as our Mac OS X Server license. One came with ANA, one did not. So while yeah, you had to buy the license, we were gonna do that anyway.

I'm not really that upset anymore. I just needed to vent my frustration, and this forum was most convenient outlet. You're welcome.

[Oneota]

Originally posted by waffffffle:
<STRONG>FYI, the education price is $299 for the unlimited license version. They don't sell the other version on the education store.

I have a question about this tool. Could it be used to update all machines in one swoop? For instance if there's a new peice of software that needs to be updated on all of the iMacs on campus here (we have 30) can it be done ONE time, remotely, and have that change effect all 30 computers? Our school is desperately looking for an alternative to Assimilator for OS X and this may be it.</STRONG>

Yup; it's pretty nifty (when it works). The earlier versions had some slight reliability problems, especially if your network wasn't quite up to par. I'm betting this version is a lot better, though.

[goMac]

Fear not people...

I'm guessing *cough cough* ANAT may still come out too...

[Oneota]

Originally posted by goMac:
<STRONG>Fear not people...

I'm guessing *cough cough* ANAT may still come out too...</STRONG>

Um...this *is* ANAT. I recognize enough of the old ANAT in the screenshots to know that they just renamed ANAT to ARD.

[aladdinsane]

My first reaction was like other cool, but then shocked when I saw the price. I have used Terminal Services on Windows 2000 Server a lot and that is exactly what I want for my Mac.

The Win2k Terminal Services is basically the same functionality as VNC or in other words just a remote terminal (no sharing or "spying" of desktops) but with excellent performance. I have tried VNC but it is poor quality.

Granted, the Apple's Remote Desktop is much more than just remote desktop and that may justify the price. But for the love of God, if Apple has the technology they should give a trimmed down version for free.

With it I can do simple work from home, use iPhoto (hosted on my desktop) from my iBook, or control iTunes from my iBook.

[sadie]

Does anybody know any technical details of how it transfers the image across?

Just like NeXT, Quartz windows draw their contents into a postscript format (PDF or EPS) first, and then the OS draws this to the screen. The size of the postscript object is generally a fraction of the size of the rendered image. So Quartz has the potential to provide remote access like this on incredibly low bandwidth compared to Timbuktu style tools - before you even start thinking about compression techniques.

It also opens the possiblity of running programs on a central server, but doing the processor-intensive job of rendering and compositing on the machine you're actually working on.

If it does use this, I'm impressed and excited, because it means Apple is starting to use the power of Quartz to open up new possibilities. If it just sends the image across in the usual dumb fasion, like all these other tools, then it sucks big time and it's a complete rip off.

I should add that OS 9 and Windows both draw direct to the screen, and are therefore incapable of anything like this - at least for now.