[General Topics] Menneisyys:
Some screenshots: On installation, you can choose between the different deploying options; for example, it’s here that you can opt for installing a gateway. (Note that it refers to hosts as “Client” and clients as controls, as with the Crosstec product.) GUI-wise, it is pretty similar to CrossTec 10; see for example the icons, the setting capabilities etc here and here. The menus are also the same.

1.2.3.4 NetOp Remote Control 9.0 by Danware

(mobile); (PPC guest version 8.00)

This product, as with the above-introduced CrossTec RemoteControl, is also a typical enterprise-only remote controller application, offering far more functionalities a non-enterprise user would ever need (and not offered for individual users: the minimum number of deploy hosts you can order it for is 100). Check out the description of the desktop and mobile versions for what it's capable of. In here, therefore, as with the CrossTec product, I only scrutinize it to see whether it's worth sticking to as a remote controller product - an enterprise system administrator in charge of deciding for a complete remote management / help / controller application deployed for the entire enterprise should use a much more broader approach in comparing not strictly Pocket PC-based controlling facilities.

First and foremost, let's get some facts straight: there are two related product lines in the NetOp line. The former, NetOp Remote Control (NRC) for WindowsCE (including Pocket PC / Windows Mobile clients), has been discontinued and is the only to contain a Pocket PC remote client; the latter, NetOp Mobile & Embedded (NME), only has a Pocket PC-side server component (like that of Pocket Controller, dotPocket, MS PowerToys etc. - see this already-linked article for more information). While the two products do work with each other (that is, you can use the old Pocket PC client with the new remote desktop-side component), the NRC 8 (the latest Windows Mobile client available) Pocket PC client is entirely incompatible with WM5.

Danware promises a WM5-compliant, real Pocket PC NME client in Q2 of this year. Up until then, it's only with Pocket PC's using previous operating systems will be able to access remote NetOp desktops.

As far as the general behaviour of the strictly Pocket PC-based remote controlling is concerned, it doesn't have much to write home about; for example, the bandwidth usage results are pretty bad. However, as has been pointed out, this product suite (as with that of CrossTec) should not only be evaluated as a mere remote controller tool: it's capable of much more when deployed in an enterprise. It's just that an individual user with a Pocket PC (and not a, say, notebook or UMPC running desktop Windows and, therefore, using the fully-fledged, great and capable NetOp NME client) won't necessarily want to prefer NetOp to the alternative, on the Pocket PC, much more capable and much less bandwidth-wasting solutions.

Some screenshots: Connect to host (2); desktop client setup 1 2 3 and configuration 1 2 (notice the plethora of usable protocols and the excellent server-side capabilities!); desktop guest in action. The WinCE host looks like this. It, however, also has a desktop configuration component. The setup of the latter (it’s only this that you can, for example, set your password) is as follows: 1 2.

1.2.3.5 Soft Agency Remote Desktop 2.0

The official homepage of this very old and outdated, commercial proprietary remote controller application isn’t accessible any more. Not that it'd be a problem: I don’t recommend this controller at all.

It has very few advantages and the list of its disadvantages is very long. Some screenshots: entering IP; add a user manually into the server (this must be done before the first connection)

1.2.3.6 BitWeen S.R.L. Remote Control 1.1

(alternate source)

This is another highly outdated and in no way recommended remote control application. It's highly overpriced ($49.95) for what it's capable of.

1.3 Haven’t tested

1.3.1 ICA client ny Citrix

(also see this page)

Unfortunately, it’s really a MetaFrame Presentation Server client and isn’t able to speak RDP, “just” ICA, the native protocol of MetaFrame. Therefore, a casual Pocket PC user not having access to the enterprise-level MetaFrame Presentation Servers will not be able to use it to access his own desktop computer - only server farms.

2. Feature / benchmark chart

It's available here. Due to sheer size, I couldn't include it in here - sorry. You'll need to click the link.

2.1 Explanation for the chart

Generic compatibility issues group: everything about operating system: which Pocket PC and desktop operating systems it's compatible with; does it support high-resolution VGA screens. Note that all products support Landscape orientation screens; this is why I haven't listed it in here.

As far as Pocket PC operating system compliance (see the OS compatibility: PPC row) is concerned, I've tested all these products on at least one (MIPS) Pocket PC 2000 (when the given application did have a MIPS version), PPC 2002 (I've tested for PPC2k2 compliance even with applications that are, officially, not PPC2k2-compliant and found out that some, only as WM2003+-advertised application is also PPC2k2-compliant), Windows Mobile 2003, 2003 SE and Windows Mobile 5 devices - that is, all the major Pocket PC operating systems. Note that, in the chart, PPC2k2+ means all operating systems starting with PPC 2002 and WM2003+ means all operating systems starting with Windows Mobile 2003.

Other OS’es : you will want to consult this row if you plan to access your desktop from non-Windows / non-Pocket PC clients too. Several applications / protocols have clients for non-Windows desktops too; the two most important examples being VNC (with clients for all flavors of Unix operating systems) and RDP (there are RDP clients for all alternative operating systems, not only Windows - for example, rdesktop under Linux). Some of the other products also have Linux / Solaris / Mac OS clients; for example, pcAnywhere, CrossTec Corporation's RemoteControl and Danware's NetOp Remote Control. This is really worth knowing if you plan to access your desktop computer from a wide variety of platforms. As can be seen, as far s strictly Web-based technologies are concerned, a RemotelyAnywhere is hands down the best and most compatible.