Apple Remote Desktop is an app that has been around for awhile that provided the ability for an administrator to share and manage the screens of other computers on the network. However, while ARD was great for someone who was an administrator on a vast network of many client computers in order to manage them all, what about someone who just wanted to look at something on their other computer, or someone who wanted to quickly help out a family member on another network? Apple Remote Desktop just isn’t suited, aimed, or priced for something as incidental as that. However, Leopard brings along a brand new Screen Sharing solution to the table, so how well does it work?

Leopard integrates Screen Sharing into a couple of different environments, but primarily they work in Finder and in iChat, however, because the actual screen sharing itself happens in a separate Screen Sharing application, I am reviewing Screen Sharing separately. From the Finder, you can use screen sharing through any computer on your local network, or via Back to My Mac (a .Mac feature and will get a full review from myself next week). iChat lets you do screen sharing as well, however it uses a direct connection to the internet to do the actual screen sharing; AIM/Jabber only serves to offer an indication of presence. Regardless of your method, Screen Sharing requires both computers to be using Leopard.

What’s interesting is that Finder and iChat treat their screen sharing interfaces in very different ways. In iChat, screen sharing gives you a full screen interface, and also throws in an audio chat as well (since Apple is expecting that you’re probably collaborating with someone in this environment). However, for the person on the controlling end of the screen sharing, they get to see the other screen in a nice, full-screen view. Their own screen appears in a small window on the right, and by clicking on that, a cool animation swaps the location of the two screens. In Finder, however, its version of screen sharing lets you see the other screen within a window, with no full screen option.

Also, although both versions of Leopard screen sharing let you see and control the other screen, there doesn’t seem to be any infrastructure for allowing interaction between the two screens. Suppose I’m screen sharing, and I want to copy a file from the other computer over onto my computer, well, I can’t do that. Instead, I would have to go back to the Finder and connect with file sharing, login for a second time, and then copy the file to my computer that way. The ability to just drag a file from the screen sharing window onto my screen would be so much nicer. It’s also very difficult to tell when your keyboard is connected to the other computer or to your computer. Things like Dashboard, Exposé, and Spaces do not work on the shared computer via your keyboard, instead they work on yours, however I’ve multiple times fallen into the trap where I’ve tried to quit Screen Sharing with a standard Command-Q, but instead have unintentionally quit the application on the shared computer. To be honest, I think that Apple should try Parallels out again, because Parallels has really figured out the way to switch between two different computer desktops. Leopard’s Screen Sharing should be just as flexible.

The other thing that’s strange is that on the computer that’s being shared, there’s very little way to know that your screen is being shared. Granted, in iChat, you probably have already okayed your screen being shared, and it does at least pop up a rollover to alert you. However, in Finder, if someone knows one of the usernames and passwords to your computer (it doesn’t even have to be your username and password), then they can immediately see and control your screen, and you have absolutely no notification of what’s going on. The only hint you get is that a new menu icon pops up in the upper-right that lets you forcibly disconnect the person who’s connected to your screen (but that assumes that the person controlling your computer lets you get up to that menu, as there’s no simple keyboard shortcut to disconnect them). All this makes me just a little bit hesitant to have Screen Sharing turned on in my firewall.

Nevertheless, Leopard’s Screen Sharing does work pretty well. It’s based on the open-source VNC (Virtual Network Connection) standard, and includes network encryption to ensure that at a minimum, usernames and passwords are encrypted and can’t be hijacked through the pipes. Screen Sharing also lets you opt for “Adaptive Screen Quality”, which instead of giving you full quality of the screen, instead adjusts the quality in order to maximize performance. Even then, Adaptive Quality still delivers reasonable screen quality. And, over my 802.11g network between my 802.11g/n MacBook and our 802.11g Mac mini, screen sharing works at just about real time with essentially no hitches. Over iChat, however, which does a remote connection over the internet, it wasn’t quite as snappy, but still relatively reasonable.

Screen Sharing in Leopard may not be perfect, but the fact that it has arrived does make it a welcoming feature, and it shows a lot of promise for the many features that are sure to come to Screen Sharing in Mac OS X’s future.

Feature Satisfaction Rating:

Be sure to check out the other articles in the Leopard Feature Presentation, occurring throughout the month of November here on Webmacster87.info.

Tags: Back to My Mac, collaboration, features, Finder, iChat, internet, Leopard Feature Presentation, Mac OS X Leopard, network, Remote Desktop, review, Screen Sharing