Run multiple copies of Remote Desktop 2.0 beta

Aug 02, '07 07:30:04AM

Contributed by: gabester

Microsoft has released a Remote Desktop Connection Client 2.0 beta for Mac (available for download from the right-hand side of this page). The app has a proper package installer and is a real Unix executable. This means that you can run multiple copies of it at the same time without making multiple copies of the application.

Here's the AppleScript code to facilitate launching it multiple times:

property RDPathMac : ""

on run
  if RDPathMac is "" then
    tell application "Remote Desktop Connection"
      activate
      set RDPathMac to (path to application "Remote Desktop Connection" as text)
      quit
    end tell
  end if
  tell application "Finder"
    if not (exists RDPathMac as alias) then
      tell application "Remote Desktop Connection"
        activate
        set RDPathMac to (path to application "Remote Desktop Connection" as text)
        quit
      end tell
    end if
  end tell
  set RDPath to (POSIX path of RDPathMac) & "Contents/MacOS/Remote Desktop Connection"
  do shell script quoted form of RDPath & " &> /dev/null &"
  quit
end run

Copy this text into Script Editor and save it as an applet or bundle, then drop this puppy in your Dock or just a convenient place to double click it, and laugh your way to multiple Windows connections!

More specifically, this script nicely checks to see if you've used it before, and if not, it runs Remote Desktop twice -- once to establish the path to the app, and once to actually open a new connection window. Every time you run the script after that, it will simply launch a new Remote Desktop Connection process.

[robg adds: gabester also provided this zipped archive that includes the compiled script along with a custom multiple-RDC-apps icon (note that I haven't tested this script yet). This hint explained how to run multiple copies of the prior version: you basically duplicated the app as often as needed.]

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Mac OS X Hints
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