Menneisyys
08-26-2007, 01:41 PM
It was just a few days ago that a newly debuted Windows Mobile developer, Colin Munro, released a new, commercial ($20) VNC client, zoomVNC (http://zoomvnc.com/).
http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCZoomLevels.png
(Note that this is a review of the current, initial, 1.0 version.)
I’ve thoroughly tested the client and found some of its features unique, particularly
the ability to connect to more than one VNC servers (desktops) at the same time and really quickly switch between them, without having to exit any of the active connections – an example screenshot showing this is HERE (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCTwoActiveConns.png)
the ability of freely creating / editing macros (example screenshots: 1 (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCMacroDef1.png) 2 (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCMacroDef2.png) 3 (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCMacroDef3.png) 4 (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCMacroDef4.png) 5 (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCMacroDef5.png); an example of the pre-defined Ctrl-Alt-Del macro is HERE (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCMacroDefCtrlAlt.png))
However, if you don’t need the above features, I’ve found it decidedly inferior to the, currently, by far the best VNC client, PT Pocket Office (http://www.parystec.demon.co.uk/Pocket_office.htm) (PT PO for short). The major disadvantages of zoomVNC, compared to PT Pocket Office, are as follows:
No right click support !!!!! This is a MAJOR problem!
Scrolling on page can only be done with scrollbars – there’s NO mouse dragging (with hidden scrollbars to maximize the available screen estate) and, what is even worse, there’s no full screen support!!! This is another major showstopper for anyone striving for the maximal available screen estate.
Three special buttons only, while PT PO has its own, really sophisticated SIP’s
No cursor hovering possible as no hardware buttons can be assigned to mouse buttons
Other (not that important) advantages over PT PO:
Tracks the desktop cursor (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCCursorTrack.png) (may be useful if there's somebody sitting in front of the terminal and moving it with the local mouse)
$2 cheaper (PT PO costs $21.99), which isn’t much if you take the generic superiority of PT PO into account
Other screenshots & info
Client-side zooming: 25/50/100/200/300% and Fit to screen (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCZoomLevels.png)
Original resolution – if it’s changed, it dynamically changes (as is expected of any commercial tool)
Manual refresh is possible (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCManualRefresh.png)
A screenshot of adding a new connection (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCNeweConnAdd.png); it’s in here that you can choose between 8 and 16-bit modes (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNC8vs16bits.png) and the update rate (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCUpdateR.png).
Note that I haven’t tested its Tight / Tight JPG-compliance; hopefully it does support it. If it doesn’t, then, its bandwidth usage is definitely worse than that of PT PO.
Verdict
Because of the problems above, I still don’t include it in the the Remote Desktop Access Bible, the premiere resource of ALL remote control-related information (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1571&more=1&c=1&tb=1). I’ll, however, do this as soon as a much more decent version is released. Similarly, I don’t recommend it over PT PO either.
Were it a free software, I’d certainly recommend it. But a title like this that is only $2 cheaper than the MUCH better PT PO is certainly not to be recommended - unless you MUST use its unique features (quick switching between active VNC connections and/or macro support).
(Just a quick note: the main homepage of the app (http://zoomvnc.com/), has severe server-side configuration issues. I’ve tried very hard to contact the author to send him a review before publishing it; however, the server is (mis)configured so bad that it returns PHP scripts verbatim (!!!!) to the client. This means almost nothing works on the Purchase page (http://order.kagi.com/?XTN).)
http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCZoomLevels.png
(Note that this is a review of the current, initial, 1.0 version.)
I’ve thoroughly tested the client and found some of its features unique, particularly
the ability to connect to more than one VNC servers (desktops) at the same time and really quickly switch between them, without having to exit any of the active connections – an example screenshot showing this is HERE (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCTwoActiveConns.png)
the ability of freely creating / editing macros (example screenshots: 1 (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCMacroDef1.png) 2 (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCMacroDef2.png) 3 (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCMacroDef3.png) 4 (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCMacroDef4.png) 5 (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCMacroDef5.png); an example of the pre-defined Ctrl-Alt-Del macro is HERE (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCMacroDefCtrlAlt.png))
However, if you don’t need the above features, I’ve found it decidedly inferior to the, currently, by far the best VNC client, PT Pocket Office (http://www.parystec.demon.co.uk/Pocket_office.htm) (PT PO for short). The major disadvantages of zoomVNC, compared to PT Pocket Office, are as follows:
No right click support !!!!! This is a MAJOR problem!
Scrolling on page can only be done with scrollbars – there’s NO mouse dragging (with hidden scrollbars to maximize the available screen estate) and, what is even worse, there’s no full screen support!!! This is another major showstopper for anyone striving for the maximal available screen estate.
Three special buttons only, while PT PO has its own, really sophisticated SIP’s
No cursor hovering possible as no hardware buttons can be assigned to mouse buttons
Other (not that important) advantages over PT PO:
Tracks the desktop cursor (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCCursorTrack.png) (may be useful if there's somebody sitting in front of the terminal and moving it with the local mouse)
$2 cheaper (PT PO costs $21.99), which isn’t much if you take the generic superiority of PT PO into account
Other screenshots & info
Client-side zooming: 25/50/100/200/300% and Fit to screen (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCZoomLevels.png)
Original resolution – if it’s changed, it dynamically changes (as is expected of any commercial tool)
Manual refresh is possible (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCManualRefresh.png)
A screenshot of adding a new connection (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCNeweConnAdd.png); it’s in here that you can choose between 8 and 16-bit modes (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNC8vs16bits.png) and the update rate (http://www.winmobiletech.com/082007SSS/zoomVNCUpdateR.png).
Note that I haven’t tested its Tight / Tight JPG-compliance; hopefully it does support it. If it doesn’t, then, its bandwidth usage is definitely worse than that of PT PO.
Verdict
Because of the problems above, I still don’t include it in the the Remote Desktop Access Bible, the premiere resource of ALL remote control-related information (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1571&more=1&c=1&tb=1). I’ll, however, do this as soon as a much more decent version is released. Similarly, I don’t recommend it over PT PO either.
Were it a free software, I’d certainly recommend it. But a title like this that is only $2 cheaper than the MUCH better PT PO is certainly not to be recommended - unless you MUST use its unique features (quick switching between active VNC connections and/or macro support).
(Just a quick note: the main homepage of the app (http://zoomvnc.com/), has severe server-side configuration issues. I’ve tried very hard to contact the author to send him a review before publishing it; however, the server is (mis)configured so bad that it returns PHP scripts verbatim (!!!!) to the client. This means almost nothing works on the Purchase page (http://order.kagi.com/?XTN).)