rdesktop (or similar)?

So, while I have (happily) switched from XP to OS X, I'm trying to get my wife into switching too. As she has a Dell 1520 I'm looking at choices like Ubuntu (which I really like) or Mandriva (heard great things about).

Point is, my wife is a developer and she telecommutes to work using Windows Remote Desktop. This is absolutely *the* main consideration to be factored in when considering the os for her.

I have read about rdektop and it looks like it allows to connect to the Win desktop without any major issues; but I'm interested in any feedback on rdesktop, or similar apps, you guys (and girls) could have.

She uses Eclipse, so a stable and decently fast interface rendering is a must (we are on a 6 Mbps connection).

Anyway, any inputs are greatly appreciated!

Regards

 

rdesktop version 1.50 and newer are very good, and support windows XP extremely well. There is a newer version of the remote desktop protocol (RDP) that is included with Vista, and I believe the latest versions of rdesktop support that too, perhaps with some minor bugs.

In any case, rdesktop supports 'seamless' mode which is great; it will give you only the application you want. This is what I use to access my outlook account on my linux machine. Note that you may need to be logged out of your windows machine for the seamless mode to work.

You can also 'auto' mount your linux home directory (or any directory for that matter, permissions granting) as a windows 'mapped network drive' when you rdesktop. This is very cool. Finally, rdesktop also supports sound and printing, so you can hear all those wonderful windows system sounds .

For ubuntu, rdesktop is as simple as a 'sudo apt-get install rdesktop'

All that said, I prefer www.nomachine.com NX for remote access, but that only allows to access to remote linux machines (from windows OSX or linux).

 

Oh, I should add that you can control the amount of network compression in rdesktop and also the geometry of the screen you want to bring up. This allows for a nice compromise if you are bandwidth limited. However, I think 6mbps should be good as long as latencies are OK.

 

Thank you very much for your reply!

My wife actually remotes to Win 2003 Server R2; I guess it uses the same RDP as Win XP does....?

 

Yeah, not sure if it's exactly the same version of RDP, but apparently rdesktop supports server 2003 very well with no problems.