Mac OS X + Pocket PC = Portability

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,66292,00.html?tw=rss.TOP' target='_blank'>http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,212...html?tw=rss.TOP</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Who says you can't run Mac OS X on a PocketPC? Consultant and columnist Teddy the Bear managed it by setting up a remote, wireless connection to his Mac in Austria. It's no speed demon, but Teddy the Bear can exert total control through his PocketPC. He manages e-mail, browses the web and queues up TV shows for his Mac to record using EyeTV."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/3716_f.17047.jpg" /><br /><br />At first I thought this was one of those W?BIC! scenarios, because my own experiences with Remote Desktop and the Terminal Services client have proven to be largely futile. But when I saw that screenshot<!>, I have to admit I was impressed with the way the remote screen actually seemed to fit fairly well. Does OS X scale that well to 640 x 480 resolution? I assume he's using SE_VGA to get real VGA resolution out of his Pocket PC. But then he went and ruined it; this quote from Teddy won my Eye Rolling of the Day award:<br /><br /><i>"Of course, I can do e-mail and web browsing using the Pocket PC software, but because it's Microsoft, it's bad."</i><br /><br />Oh please. :roll: I'll be the first to admit that Pocket Inbox and Pocket Internet Explorer need some serious improvements (especially with IMAP support), but even over WiFi I have a hard time believing that a remote desktop solution could be faster and easier than just firing up Pocket Inbox and hitting "Connect". And having the opinion that everything from Microsoft is "bad" seems to ignore the obvious point that the damn Pocket PC is running on Microsoft software. Teddy the Bear needs some more stuffing in his head - or less, I'm not sure.

[powder2000]

Had a subscription to wired, but did not renew it. I couldn't get past the vast majority of their viewpoints......This anti-Microsoft bashing didn't surprise me once I saw where the article was from. Still, OS X looks pretty cool on that wonderful vga screen!

[felixdd]

The man needs a manicure....badly.

http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/2002091467/www.wired.com/news/images/full/3719_f.17049.jpg

[DaleReeck]

...and because its Apple, its overpriced and proprietary :D

[capo]

&lt;sigh> I try hard to like the Mac, and Apple products in general. It's not too tough - they make a lot of really cool stuff. What makes it more difficult than it should be is the near religious fervor of some Mac zealots. Ditto a few Linux fanatics. Choice benefits us all. I'm far from believing MS products are the be-all and end-all, but eventually they usually put out a decent product. Why does it have to be an either/or choice?

[juni]

He can't be that bad - he has a dauchshund in a superman suit as wallpaper. :)

Ours is aptly named "Pixel". :)

[ventivent]

hey,

my cat is named pixel. maybe he purposely left his thumbnails long and sharp for better typing on the software keyboard. :D

[jjdyer]

From the article...
The only problem is the lack of a keyboard or mouse. To make things easier, Teddy grew his two thumbnails to tap out commands on the Pocket PC's teeny touch screen.

[TMann]

Just for the record, there's a post by a Palm user (gasp!) on another website showing a picture of a Palm Tungsten T3, with a VPN connection to a Windows computer. It appears that this "trick" is pretty easy to accomplish on any combination of PDA and desktop OS's.

TMann

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/palmaddicts/winxp.jpg

[surur]

Hey!! Thats my Loox! :)

With the Loox I have found landscape mode to be quite natural (but only in VGA mode, where most of the screen is not wasted on the status bar etc). The grooves at the side and the square shape makes it relatively easy to hold. Terminal service and logmein etc has been very usefull and easy to use also, and its nice to have full access to Word and MyIE etc.

With the higher resolution devices and wifi these solutions are finally coming of age. The only problem is the price of wireless data here in the UK (e.g $5 per megabyte), otherwise I would be doing this regularly using my 3G phone.

Surur

PS: Probably the reason why the Mac desktop scaled down so well is due to so much space being wasted on eye candy and rediculously large icons :)

PS2: Nice article. May I suggest he gets a folding keyboard instead of growing long nails, for all of our good.

PS3: Im glad to see he acknowledges that his mac also crashes (and it sounds like quite frequently too (but that his pocketpc setup is quite stable). Does he not know its not wise to use your main machine as a firewall also?

[TMann]

Does OS X scale that well to 640 x 480 resolution? I assume he's using SE_VGA to get real VGA resolution out of his Pocket PC.

OS X scales the screen down really well to 800 x 600 or even 640 x 480. Also the icons can easily be scaled up or down to make things easier on the eyes for those really high-dpi screens.

I think that you guys are a little bit touchy about the whole Microsoft thing, aren't you? You'd think that someone insulted your mother, or something! :D

TMann

[dMores]

whoa ! i first thought they actually installed mac osx on that thing :)

so ... is this hard to do? i mean connecting to your desktop remotely with your pda? or can it be done with built-in tools?

[surur]

so ... is this hard to do? i mean connecting to your desktop remotely with your pda? or can it be done with built-in tools?

If you have windows xp pro as your desktop its a piece of cake, as terminal service client is included on your pocketpc as standard. You need to know the ip address of your desktop, and the port (3389 I think) must be open and listening on your desktop too. This may require you to add an exeption to your firewall. Also your user must have remote connections enabled, and must have a password.

After that bob's your uncle.

Even easier is using a service such as logmein.com, which is free, and runs a server on your dekstop in you taskbar. Its faster than vnc, and they have a client for the pocketpc too. This works quite well, and the screen scrolls very fast if you are not scaling it down. To use it you just log on to their website in pocket ie and take things from there.

Surur

[mpda]

Is it possible to do this through a docking cradle and windows xp pro?

[Eraserhead]

I have tried this with no result. Does anyone know of any good walk throug instructions for remote desktop such as wifi settings on the PPC an further settings on my desktop.

[freitasm]

I read the article a couple of days ago and couldn't believe what a waste of bandwidth and storage for suc :bad-words: story. Wired is really getting to a low level lately.

Just because they have sent some one to the MacWorld doesn't mean they have to brown nose Apple users.

It's not like something that can't be done on any other platform - even on :bawl: Linux.

Some people have to stop looking at their preferred choice of platform as the ultimate weapon. They're just technology and like that most of then replaceable. :roll:.

[johnm]

I read the article a couple of days ago and couldn't believe what a waste of bandwidth and storage for suc :bad-words: story. Wired is really getting to a low level lately.

I agree, its not magic, just VNC. Its been around for many years.

I occasionally use my 4705 in VGA mode to connect to my XP pro boxes. It works pretty well. When I log back into to my desktop though, all my windows are resized to 640x480. I wish they would restore to the size I left them.

The bigger problem to solve though is getting access back to your machine while on the road. Usually Wifi hotspots block most ports not to mention that to get back to my home machine I have to get through a dynamic IP, several layers of NAT and a router. Anyone have a good solution for this?

[Jonathan1]

Hmmm nice.....I'll get myself the other mini though :)

[freitasm]

The bigger problem to solve though is getting access back to your machine while on the road. Usually Wifi hotspots block most ports not to mention that to get back to my home machine I have to get through a dynamic IP, several layers of NAT and a router. Anyone have a good solution for this?

1. GoToMyPC (http://www.gotomypc) (Geekzone review (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=2849)), by subscription.

2. LogMeIn (https://secure.logmein.com/go.asp?page=home), free.

[SteveHoward999]

It appears that this "trick" is pretty easy to accomplish on any combination of PDA and desktop OS's.


Yes of course. I was underwhelmed to read about this. PPC even makes it easy for plebs like me by having Terminal Services installed by default.

[T-Will]

Very cool, but the thumbnail thing is slightly disturbing...has he ever heard of a stylus?

[DoughboyWebDev]

Excuse my ignorance, but is he using the built in Terminal Service app to connect to his MAC? I have both a MAC and a PC and would love to be able to terminal service into my MAC.

[dMores]

thanks sursur for the info.

[Deslock]

"Of course, I can do e-mail and web browsing using the Pocket PC software, but because it's Microsoft, it's bad."

Oh please. :roll: I'll be the first to admit that Pocket Inbox and Pocket Internet Explorer need some serious improvements (especially with IMAP support), but even over WiFi I have a hard time believing that a remote desktop solution could be faster and easier than just firing up Pocket Inbox and hitting "Connect". And having the opinion that everything from Microsoft is "bad" seems to ignore the obvious point that the damn Pocket PC is running on Microsoft software.
While it's likely he was slamming all thing Microsoft, it's possible that he meant any of the following: Microsoft's PPC software is bad
Microsoft's web browsers and email clients are bad
Microsoft's web browser and email client for PPC are badThe fact that he uses a PPC isn't necessarily an endorsement for Microsoft ... some people like PPCs for the cool hardware.

[T-Will]

Excuse my ignorance, but is he using the built in Terminal Service app to connect to his MAC? I have both a MAC and a PC and would love to be able to terminal service into my MAC.

He's using VNC, an open source remote desktop application, I'm not sure which variant he's using but you might check out this (http://www.realvnc.com/pipermail/vnc-list/2003-February/037644.html) link for some help.

[Phronetix]

But when I saw that screenshot<!>, I have to admit I was impressed with the way the remote screen actually seemed to fit fairly well. Does OS X scale that well to 640 x 480 resolution? I assume he's using SE_VGA to get real VGA resolution out of his Pocket PC. But then he went and ruined it; this quote from Teddy won my Eye Rolling of the Day award:

[i]"Of course, I can do e-mail and web browsing using the Pocket PC software, but because it's Microsoft, it's bad."

Oh please. :roll: I'll be the first to admit that Pocket Inbox and Pocket Internet Explorer need some serious improvements (especially with IMAP support), but even over WiFi I have a hard time believing that a remote desktop solution could be faster and easier than just firing up Pocket Inbox and hitting "Connect". And having the opinion that everything from Microsoft is "bad" seems to ignore the obvious point that the damn Pocket PC is running on Microsoft software. Teddy the Bear needs some more stuffing in his head - or less, I'm not sure.


Ouch!
Jason (and everyone else who's having a hard time with this guy's comments),

Relax, I'm sure he's one of those guys, (reminiscent of that schizoid kid in your grade three class who'd flipped his new calculator watch out of his pocket in order to attract attention), who was flaunting his, ahem, prowess to the masses at MWSF and was easy to pick out of the crowd by his antics. I bet he made a production out of reaching his system in Austria... to his Apple Powerbook!!! Mein herr!!! He can't even boast a DP G5?

:boohoo:

Remember folks, geekiness and a histrionic personality don't mix, and this proves it's independent of platform.


Phro

[jonathanchoo]

]The fact that he uses a PPC isn't necessarily an endorsement for Microsoft ... some people like PPCs for the cool hardware.

In my case this is so true...Just because I like the PocketPC platform does not mean I will endorse everything Microsoft. For example I won't ever let a Microsoft OS in my car.

[NLS]

Excuse my ignorance, but is he using the built in Terminal Service app to connect to his MAC? I have both a MAC and a PC and would love to be able to terminal service into my MAC.

He's using VNC, an open source remote desktop application, I'm not sure which variant he's using but you might check out this (http://www.realvnc.com/pipermail/vnc-list/2003-February/037644.html) link for some help.

He is using THIS (http://www.parystec.demon.co.uk/) version... great too.

[rberry88]

]The fact that he uses a PPC isn't necessarily an endorsement for Microsoft ... some people like PPCs for the cool hardware.

In my case this is so true...Just because I like the PocketPC platform does not mean I will endorse everything Microsoft. For example I won't ever let a Microsoft OS in my car.

Whew, I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels this way. Mac's and PC's can play nicely together in the same househould (I have 3 of each with a little one on the way :devilboy: ).

It's funny how people associate hardware and software. A pocketPC runs Microsoft Windows-variant, PC's run MS Windows, Linux, BSD etc and a Mac runs OSX &amp; Linux. Since this is a site for PocketPC's, does it matter what platform of choice the users embrace??

I know its hard to fathom but all platforms can co-exist.

On topic: I tried this with my hx4700 w/ winXP and it worked fine after adding the 3389 port to ZoneAlarm as an excluded port. I haven't tried it on my Mac yet but I'm curious to see how it will compare.

Just my 2 cents.

[juni]

We have

- one XP desktop

- one iMac

- one 12-inch iBook

+ we use the AirPort Express Base Station for wireless.

[rberry88]

We have

- one XP desktop

- one iMac

- one 12-inch iBook

+ we use the AirPort Express Base Station for wireless.

Plus you create the best Dashboard skins I've seen.

[juni]

:)

Btw: I'm running OSX on my 4700 too ;)

http://www.kolumbus.fi/anders.ruohio/wa/osxvga.png