On 12/23/2013 10:20 PM, Oren wrote:
On Mon, 23 Dec 2013 21:52:54 -0800, mike wrote:


There's also VNC that gives you direct GUI screen/keyboard/mouse integration
over the network.

Good answer.

"In computing, Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is a graphical desktop
sharing system that uses the Remote Frame Buffer protocol (RFB) to
remotely control another computer. It transmits the keyboard and mouse
events from one computer to another, relaying the graphical screen
updates back in the other direction, over a network"

A free program is Team Viewer.

http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx

Been a few months since I looked at teamviewer.
I believe that even if you don't know what you're doing,
you're likely to be able to make teamviewer work securely
across the internet.

And if you want sound and integrated VOIP/voice chat
that may be your only free option.

There's a tiny windows program called PicoPhone that
works very well for audio chat while running VNC.
It also requires the IP address of the other end,
and open ports on your router.
There used to be a server system to let you connect to
an account, but that may not be alive any more????

The thing I didn't care for was the requirement to have
an account and use their servers to set up the connection.
Yes, it has advantages in a lot of cases.

If you're doing remote access across your local intranet,
I prefer the VNC method of talking directly to the IP address
and keeping the port hidden behind the router. If you want to
connect across the web, you have to open a port on your router
and know the IP address of the remote system. And a VPN tunnel
can make it quite secure.
I never did anything secret or illegal, so that wasn't an advantage
for me.
Requirement to know the IP address is not a problem on your intranet.
Few of us have fixed external (wan)IP addresses on the internet.
How often it changes depends on your provider. I've had the same
one since I set up the account.

I never learned whether teamviewer sends info thru their servers
or just uses them to set up a direct connection. That could make
a big difference for local use.

I like tightVNC as a cross-platform remote access solution.
And there's no reason you can't use either/both when there's
reason to do so.