Chicken of the VNC - Remote access client
Oct 14, '03 01:07:00AM
Contributed by: robg
The macosxhints Rating:

[Score: 9 out of 10]
In working with my new G5 and the old G4, I did a lot of work with one monitor for two machines, using the free OSXvnc server package. With the server running on one box, you need a client on the other to access the server, and I had been using VNCThing. I wasn't thrilled, however, with its speed or lack of support (perhaps my configuration issues) for my mouse -- it worked, but I couldn't click and drag at all.
So I went looking and stumbled onto Chicken of the VNC. Not only did this make my mouse work much much better (click and drag worked, as did contextual menus and my scroll wheel!), but "the Chicken" also supports the "tight" VNC protocol, which greatly speeds the client/server interaction. Once installed (simple!) and running, I had a much more usable remote access setup.
I'm not sure how well it works over slower connections, but the VNC server/client combo on a LAN makes for a fairly speedy remote experience. I haven't yet tested it from the office to the house, where my cable connection upload speed is the limiting factor, but I expect it will still outperform VNCThing. This won't be useful to everyone, but if you have a need to see a remote Mac / PC / UNIX box on your Mac, check out Chicken of the VNC.
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