Related Titles Get more expert help in Take Control of...
Take Control of Screen Sharing in Leopard
Try screen sharing for support, server management, and collaboration!
Screen sharing lets you control one Mac while you sit at another. It's great for providing remote tech support, managing remote servers, and for collaborating with colleagues. Leopard brings screen sharing to normal Mac users, but adds complexity by enabling screen sharing via iChat, Bonjour, directly by entering an IP address, and Back to My Mac. In this book, networking expert Glenn Fleishman helps you figure out which type of screen sharing to use when, how to share screens with people who are not running Leopard and even with Windows users, and how to get the most out of Leopard's hidden Screen Sharing application.
Interested in screen sharing, but only with Back to My Mac? This title has the basics about Back to My Mac, but if you want all the details—and oodles of background info and router help—on Back to My Mac, check out Take Control of Back to My Mac.
More Info
Contents & Intro
FAQ
Read this book to learn the answers to questions like:
How can I share the screen of a buddy via iChat?
What's the best way to use screen sharing for remote tech support?
How do I start screen sharing on a local network with Bonjour?
Can I share the screen of another computer if I know only its IP address?
What smoke and mirrors is Apple using to make Back to My Mac work?
How can I copy text from one computer to another while screen sharing?
Leopard's screen-sharing isn't enough—what other apps do you recommend?
How do I share screens with people using older versions of Mac OS X or Windows?
Book Info
88 pages
Version 1.0
Published 11-Jun-08
1.9 MB download
Free sample with Table of Contents, Introduction, Quick Start, and section starts.
About the Author
Glenn Fleishman is editor of the daily Web log Wi-Fi Networking News, a contributing editor for TidBITS, the Practical Mac columnist for The Seattle Times, and a regular contributor to The Economist,
Macworld, Popular Science, and The New York Times.
Share Screens via a Bonjour or a Direct Connection
Share Screens via Back to My Mac
Share Screens via the Screen Sharing Application
Add More Features to Screen Sharing
Get Backward Compatibility with VNC
Troubleshooting
App. A: Other Remote Access Solutions
App. B: Configure Your Router or Gateway
Read Me First
This book will help you master sharing a remote computer's screen in Leopard and teach you about the options needed to get a reliable connection with the greatest versatility. This book was written by Glenn Fleishman, edited by Dan Frakes and Tonya Engst, and published by TidBITS Publishing Inc.
Introduction
I remember the first time I used a remote screen-sharing program. Working from my desktop computer, I accessed a system that was in a server room but which had no monitor attached. It was magical. I could work with the server just as if I were directly connected with a keyboard and mouse, using its programs and manipulating objects on its desktop, but I didn't need to sit in the server room and have the inconvenient extra hardware attached to the server.
That sense of wonder still pervades me when I use screen sharing 18 years later. Instead of using a 10 Mbps (fast!) local Ethernet network or 2,400 bps dial-up software to make the connection, I use broadband feeds over the Internet to reach computers across town, 15 miles away, and 3,000 miles away.
Screen sharing gives you access to applications and data stored on another computer, even though your keyboard and mouse aren't connected to that computer. It also gives you the freedom to switch between computers in different locations without using individual remote-control applications, most of which are wonky or slow when used over the Internet.
Leopard extends the use of screen sharing from something you had to install or figure out how to use in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and earlier versions of Mac OS X to being part of the system, available on tap.
In Leopard, screen sharing comes in several forms, each of which I explain how to use in this book. In some forms, you need to be in control of each machine you want to access remotely, having an account and password on that computer. However, one particular method—Screen Sharing over iChat—requires just a buddy who gives you permission to access his or her screen.
I also cover VNC, a technology that's built into many different programs for many versions of Mac OS X and other platforms, and which is the basis of much of Leopard's screen-sharing capability.
Quick Start to Screen Sharing
This book teaches you how to set up a computer for remote screen sharing, using built-in features in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, as well as an alternative, VNC, that works with many operating systems.
Educate yourself with background information that will help you configure like a pro:
Discover what you can do with a screen-sharing connection. See Learn Screen-Sharing Basics.
Walk through the many ways that Leopard offers and makes remote screen-sharing links. See Sharing in Leopard.
Configure and use one of the many screen-sharing options:
Set up an ad-hoc connection over the Internet or on your local network with Share Screens via iChat. You can also Use iChat Theater.
Configure Leopard's Screen Sharing service to Share Screens via a Bonjour or a Direct Connection; then Share Screens via the Screen Sharing Application.
If you have a .Mac account and want to share with other Macs that you own, you can Share Screens via Back to My Mac.
In all cases but iChat-based screen sharing, you can go beyond the basics by learning how to Add Toolbar Options in the Screen Sharing application and how to Turn On Bonjour Viewing, both covered in Add More Features to Screen Sharing.
Learn the ins and outs of VNC, connection software that works with many versions of Mac OS X, Windows, and most other operating systems. See Get Backward Compatibility with VNC.
Use a third-party screen-sharing utility in order to have a larger set of options for interacting with remote systems, including file transfer, or to reach otherwise unreachable computers. See Appendix A: Other Remote Access Solutions.
Solve problems:
For screen sharing with iChat or Back to My Mac, first set up your router to enable remote access. See Appendix B: Configure Your Router or Gateway. If problems persistent, look for solutions in:
iChat Connection Problems
Bonjour, Direct, and VNC Connection Problems
Back to My Mac Connection Problems
Work your way through common problems with remote access, including firewalls and computers that put themselves into a sleep state when idle. See General Troubleshooting.
Will this answer every question that I have about Back to My Mac?
If you are the happy-go-lucky sort whose Back to My Mac connection attempts work smoothly and you don't have in-depth questions about the service, then, yes, it will answer all your questions. However, if you can't make the service work even with the more basic advice in this ebook, or if you want a fairly deep understanding of how a Back to My Mac connection is made or of security concerns relating to the service, then what you really want is Take Control of Back to My Mac. Notice that if you want this book and Take Control of Back to My Mac, you can get them together in a bundle with a discount. Look for a button for the discount in the left margin of this page.
Doesn't Back to My Mac use .Mac? And isn't .Mac turning into MobileMe?
Indeed, you are correct!
In early June, Apple announced that .Mac will be transitioning to a new online service, with enhanced features, called MobileMe, in July. We have confirmed with Apple that the functionality of Back to My Mac will not be changing right away in MobileMe. It is likely, however, that the text labels in the interface for configuring Back to My Mac will change, so, for instance, in System Preferences, you'll probably be working with a MobileMe pane, not a .Mac pane. Obviously, we plan to update the ebook to include those changes. Meanwhile, we know there are folks who want help with screen sharing right now, so we decided to go ahead and release this ebook. And, if you are reading this paragraph after MobileMe goes live, please don't think badly of us—we'd had the audacity :-) to schedule our summer family vacation during the timeslot that Apple chose to roll out MobileMe, so we won't be updating anything instantly.
Ask a Question
Feel free to ask us if you have a question about this book!
