Virtual Network Computing (VNC) technology enables sharing a copy of one computer's screen display with another computer over a network connection. Also known as remote desktop sharing, VNC is typically used by people wanting to monitor or control a computer from a remote location rather than just accessing shared files.
JollysFastVNC is a shareware VNC client for Mac created by software developer Patrick Stein. While the developer strongly encourages regular users to purchase a license, the software is free to try. JollysFastVNC is designed for speed (responsiveness) of remote desktop sessions and also integrates SSH tunneling support for security. Since you are on windows, you might find this thread useful in which one one of the answers states that the alternative vine server has this mapping correctly setup. I didn't like how slow the vine server is, so I use xvnc for its improved clipboard support over the built-in vnc server. How to Set Up VNC on Mac OS X. Need to control an Apple computer running OS X 10.4 Tiger or OS X 10.5 Leopard from a remote location? That's the purpose of VNC! The Client: A VNC client is any computer connecting to and taking control of a server. Although it is not the best method, it is the easiest.
The following free software packages provide VNC functionality. VNC software consists of a client user interface plus a server that manages connections to clients and sends desktop images. Some applications only support Windows PCs, while others are portable across different types of network devices.
VNC systems use network authentication to guard the connections initiated between clients and a server, but the remote desktop data subsequently sent over these connections is usually not encrypted. Those wanting to also protect the data can use free SSH utilities together with a VNC system.
TightVNC
The TightVNC Server and Viewer use special data encoding techniques designed to better support lower-speed network connections. First released in 2001, the latest versions of TightVNC run on all modern flavors of Windows, and a Java version of the Viewer is also available.
What We Like
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Free to download and install.
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Very easy to learn and use.
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Simple to configure on remote machines.
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Small footprint (consumes little system resources).
What We Don't Like
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Screen updates can lag at times.
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Consumes more network resources than other VNC alternatives.
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Application appearance is somewhat outdated.
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Lacks advanced features offered by other VNC apps.
TigerVNC
The creation of TigerVNC software was initiated by Red Hat with the goal of improving on TightVNC. TigerVNC development started from a snapshot of TightVNC code and has expanded support to include Linux and Mac as well as Windows, plus various performance and security enhancements.
What We Like
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Works on all OS platforms.
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Faster response than most other VNC alternatives.
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Extensions available for advanced authentication and encryption.
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Large online user community.
What We Don't Like
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Advanced features may require a learning curve for new users.
RealVNC Free Edition
The company RealVNC sells commercial versions of its VNC products (Personal Edition and Enterprise Edition) but also supplies this open-source Free Edition. This free client is not officially supported on Windows 7 or Vista PCs, but workaround procedures might allow it to function. RealVNC also sells (but not does provide a free version of) its VNC Viewer for iPhone and iPad on the Apple app store.
What We Like
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Free to install and use.
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Lightweight and fast.
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Any VNC client can connect to a RealVNC server.
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Available for multiple platforms.
What We Don't Like
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May experience performance issues inside corporate networks.
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Configuration is more advanced than other VNC alternatives.
UltraVNC (uVNC) and ChunkVNC
Developed by a small team of volunteers, UltraVNC is an open source VNC system that works similarly to RealVNC but supports Windows 7 and Vista clients. A companion software package called ChunkVNC adds remote control functionality to the UltraVNC viewer.
What We Like
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Free to download and use.
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File transfers are fast and easy.
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Includes a chat window to talk to remote users.
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Ideal for advanced VNC users.
Free Vnc Client For Windows
What We Don't Like
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More complicated than other VNC alternatives.
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Only available for Windows PCs.
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Performance issues on busy networks.
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Lacks multimonitor support.
Chicken (of the VNC)
Based on an older software package called Chicken of the VNC, Chicken is an open source VNC client for Mac OS X. The Chicken package does not include any VNC server functionality, nor does the client run on any other operating system than Mac OS X. Chicken can be paired with various VNC servers including UltraVNC.
What We Like
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Lightweight and fast.
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Automatically discovers VNC servers on a network.
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Strong encryption features.
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Remote screen updates are very accurate.
What We Don't Like
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Only available for Mac PCs.
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Only includes a VNC client.
JollysFastVNC
JollysFastVNC is a shareware VNC client for Mac created by software developer Patrick Stein. While the developer strongly encourages regular users to purchase a license, the software is free to try. JollysFastVNC is designed for speed (responsiveness) of remote desktop sessions and also integrates SSH tunneling support for security.
What We Like
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Ultra-fast.
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Supports many encryption protocols.
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Supports full Retina display.
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Intuitive window scaling.
What We Don't Like
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No permanent free version available.
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Only available for Mac PCs.
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Does not support multiple monitors.
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Complicated configuration for beginners.
SmartCode VNC Web Access
SmartCode Solutions provides this hosted Web page demonstrating how a browser running their ViewerX client software can be used as a VNC client. The SmartCode ViewerX products are not free, but this demonstration client can be used freely from Windows PCs using an ActiveX-control enabled browser like Internet Explorer.
What We Like
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Easy to configure and use.
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Accurate screen updates.
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Lots of extra features and integrations available.
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Ideal for network administrators.
What We Don't Like
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Expensive for nonbusiness users.
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Only available for Windows PCs.
Mocha VNC Lite
Mochasoft provides both a full commercial (pay, not free) version and this free Lite version of its VNC client for Apple iPhone and iPad. Compared to the full version, Mocha VNC Lite lacks support for special key sequences (like Ctrl-Alt-Del) and some mouse functions (like right-click or click-and-drag). The company has tested this client with various VNC servers including RealVNC, TightVNC and UltraVNC.
What We Like
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Available for both iOS and Android.
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Can connect to servers running on various platforms.
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Supports zooming as well as portrait or landscape modes.
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Good performance and speed.
What We Don't Like
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Has a five-minute session time limit.
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No support for multimonitors.
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Free version only supports standard keyboard keys.
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Session traffic is unencrypted.
EchoVNC
Echoagent Systems designed EchoVNC to be a 'firewall friendly' remote desktop package based on UltraVNC. However, the extensions in EchoVNC for improved firewall compatibility rely on a proxy server system called 'echoServer' that is a separate, commercial product.
What We Like
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Client works with any VNC server.
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Easy to configure regardless of firewall setup.
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Very easy to set up.
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VNC user and installation guides are available.
What We Don't Like
Best Vnc Client For Linux
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Only available for Windows PCs.
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Only works with Windows or Mac VNC servers.
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Disorganized, confusing user interface.
I regularly need to connect from a Windows box to an OSX box over VNC.
OSX has VNC built-in as part of its 'Screen Sharing' tool, but for some reason, it's much faster to connect from OSX to OSX or from OSX to Windows than it is to connect from Windows to OSX. (I use UltraVNC on Windows.) Windows to OSX connectivity is almost unusably slow, even when the two boxes are sitting right next to each other, plugged into the same router.
Free Vnc Client Windows 10
How can I improve performance in this case? Should I explore alternate Windows clients? Alternate OSX VNC servers? Should I use some other screen-sharing tool instead of VNC? (If so, what?)
(Note that this question is more specific than other more general questions.)
Dan FabulichDan Fabulich
4 Answers
OS X Leopard with its own ScreenSharing client, connecting to another OS X native screen sharing server, does some negotiation on colour depth, etc., so it's transferring less data.
(You can see this effect exaggerated if you connect to an OS X system from Windows using the RealVNC client over a higher latency connection. It will take a long time to build up the screen output.)
I couldn't find a way to make RealVNC request a lower colour depth so what I did, to work around this, was run a copy of VineServer on OS X with the '-maxdepth 8' option (and '-rfbport 5901' to run it as an alternate server), and connect to that when I connect long distance (which I always do through an SSH tunnel, before anyone states the obvious.)
I've switched from UltraVNC (back) to RealVNC, primarily because UltraVNC was not handling my multi-monitor server right.
Stijn SandersStijn Sanders
I found switching to Vine Server rather than the default Apple one made a huge difference to performance.
I experienced the same thing, but could not get UltraVNC or TightVNC to match the performance I expected. I was tipped of TeamViewer and it worked like a charm. The setup configured the computers for access and after letting them accept connections over LAN I got speedy remote control with full colours.
thomthomthomthom
Download Vnc Client For Windows
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