Conversely, Microsoft Surface products are considered some of the best built in the segment, outranking Apple, and differentiated as the most Apple like of all the Windows products in market.
Note. Curious about the new releases for the macOS client? Check out. The Mac client runs on computers running macOS 10.10 and newer. The information in this article applies primarily to the full version of the Mac client - the version available in the Mac AppStore. Test-drive new features by downloading our preview app here:. Get the Remote Desktop client Follow these steps to get started with Remote Desktop on your Mac:.
Download the Microsoft Remote Desktop client from the. (If you skip this step, you can't connect to your PC.).
Add a Remote Desktop connection or a remote resource. You use a connection to connect directly to a Windows PC and a remote resource to use a RemoteApp program, session-based desktop, or a virtual desktop published on-premises using RemoteApp and Desktop Connections. This feature is typically available in corporate environments. What about the Mac beta client? We're testing new features on our preview channel on HockeyApp. Want to check it out? Go to and click Download.
You don't need to create an account or sign into HockeyApp to download the beta client. If you already have the client, you can check for updates to ensure you have the latest version. In the beta client, click Microsoft Remote Desktop Beta at the top, and then click Check for updates. Add a Remote Desktop connection To create a remote desktop connection:. In the Connection Center, click +, and then click Desktop. Enter the following information:.
PC name - the name of the computer. This can be a Windows computer name (found in the System settings), a domain name, or an IP address. You can also add port information to the end of this name, like MyDesktop:3389. User Account - Add the user account you use to access the remote PC.
For Active Directory (AD) joined computers or local accounts, use one of these formats: username, domain username, or [email protected]. For Azure Active Directory (AAD) joined computers, use one of these formats: AzureAD username or AzureAD [email protected]. You can also choose whether to require a password. When managing multiple user accounts with the same user name, set a friendly name to differentiate the accounts. Manage your saved user accounts in the preferences of the app.
You can also set these optional settings for the connection:. Set a friendly name. Add a Gateway. Set the sound output. Swap mouse buttons. Enable Admin Mode. Redirect local folders into a remote session.
Forward local printers. Forward Smart Cards.
Click Save. To start the connection, just double-click it. The same is true for remote resources. Export and import connections You can export a remote desktop connection definition and use it on a different device. Remote desktops are saved in separate.RDP files.
In the Connection Center, right-click the remote desktop. Click Export. Browse to the location where you want to save the remote desktop.RDP file. Use the following steps to import a remote desktop.RDP file. In the menu bar, click File Import. Browse to the.RDP file.
Click Open. Add a remote resource Remote resources are RemoteApp programs, session-based desktops, and virtual desktops published using RemoteApp and Desktop Connections. The URL displays the link to the RD Web Access server that gives you access to RemoteApp and Desktop Connections. The configured RemoteApp and Desktop Connections are listed. To add a remote resource:. In the Connection Center click +, and then click Add Remote Resources. Enter information for the remote resource:.
Feed URL - The URL of the RD Web Access server. You can also enter your corporate email account in this field – this tells the client to search for the RD Web Access Server associated with your email address. User name - The user name to use for the RD Web Access server you are connecting to. Password - The password to use for the RD Web Access server you are connecting to. Click Save. The remote resources will be displayed in the Connection Center. Connect to an RD Gateway to access internal assets A Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) lets you connect to a remote computer on a corporate network from anywhere on the Internet.
You can create and manage your gateways in the preferences of the app or while setting up a new desktop connection. To set up a new gateway in preferences:. In the Connection Center, click Preferences Gateways. Click the + button at the bottom of the table Enter the following information:. Server name – The name of the computer you want to use as a gateway. This can be a Windows computer name, an Internet domain name, or an IP address.
You can also add port information to the server name (for example: RDGateway:443 or 10.0.0.1:443). User name - The user name and password to be used for the Remote Desktop gateway you are connecting to. You can also select Use connection credentials to use the same user name and password as those used for the remote desktop connection. Manage your user accounts When you connect to a desktop or remote resources, you can save the user accounts to select from again.
You can manage your user accounts by using the Remote Desktop client. To create a new user account:. In the Connection Center, click Settings Accounts. Click Add User Account.
Enter the following information:. User Name - The name of the user to save for use with a remote connection. You can enter the user name in any of the following formats: username, domain username, or [email protected]. Password - The password for the user you specified. Every user account that you want to save to use for remote connections needs to have a password associated with it.
Friendly Name - If you are using the same user account with different passwords, set a friendly name to distinguish those user accounts. Tap Save, and then tap Settings. Customize your display resolution You can specify the display resolution for the remote desktop session. In the Connection Center, click Preferences.
Click Resolution. Enter a resolution height and width, and then click OK. To delete the resolution, select it, and then click. Displays have separate spaces If you are running Mac OS X 10.9 and disabled Displays have separate spaces in Mavericks ( System Preferences Mission Control), you need to configure this setting in the remote desktop client using the same option. Drive redirection for remote resources Drive redirection is supported for remote resources, so that you can save files created with a remote application locally to your Mac. The redirected folder is always your home directory displayed as a network drive in the remote session. Note In order to use this feature, the administrator needs to set the appropriate settings on the server.
Use a keyboard in a remote session Mac keyboard layouts differ from the Windows keyboard layouts. The Command key on the Mac keyboard equals the Windows key.
To perform actions that use the Command button on the Mac, you will need to use the control button in Windows (e.g.: Copy = Ctrl + C). The function keys can be activated in the session by pressing additionally the FN key (e.g.: FN + F1). The Alt key to the right of the space bar on the Mac keyboard equals the Alt Gr/right Alt key in Windows.
![Windows Windows](/uploads/1/2/5/3/125380658/570798045.png)
By default, the remote session will use the same keyboard locale as the OS you're running the client on. (If your Mac is running an en-us OS, that will be used for the remote sessions as well.
If the OS keyboard locale is not used, check the keyboard setting on the remote PC and changing the setting manually. See the for more information about keyboards and locales. Support for Remote Desktop gateway pluggable authentication and authorization Windows Server 2012 R2 introduced support for a new authentication method, Remote Desktop Gateway pluggable authentication and authorization, which provides more flexibility for custom authentication routines.
You can now this authentication model with the Mac client.
Windows 8 was bad enough that it forced me — a lifelong Windows user up until that point — to switch my entire family over to Macs. But after seeing how (the Start menu is finally back and Internet Explorer is nearly gone), I’m now interested in giving it a try once again. Like most people using MacBooks, I have no interest in getting rid of my laptop, but thankfully I don’t have to buy any new hardware to use Windows 10. Thanks to Apple creating some helpful tools and some solid third-party options, it’s rather easy to get Windows 10 up and running right alongside OS X. Virtual Machine or Boot Camp? There are two easy ways to install Windows on a Mac.
You can use a virtualization program, which runs Windows 10 like an app right on top of OS X, or you can use Apple’s built-in Boot Camp program to partition your hard drive to dual-boot Windows 10 right next to OS X. Virtual machines like Parallels and VMware cost upwards of $70 on top of what you already have to pay for Windows 10, and while you can run OS X and Windows simultaneously, the drain on your processing power can force both operating systems to run less than optimally. Boot Camp is the easiest way to get Windows 10 on your Mac Boot Camp doesn’t allow you to easily transfer content between OS X and Windows partitions like virtual machines do, and you can’t run the two operating systems simultaneously. But it does give Windows full access to the processing power of your Mac. It’s also completely free (apart from the Windows 10 license), and a shared Dropbox / Google Drive / OneDrive folder can make data transfers a bit easier. Right now, the easiest, cheapest, and fastest way to get Windows 10 on your Mac is Boot Camp, and that’s what we’re using for this tutorial. The first thing you should do is to make sure your Mac can actually run Windows 10.
Your Mac needs at least 2GB of RAM (4GB of RAM would be better) and at least 30GB of free hard drive space to properly run Boot Camp. You’ll also need at least a 16GB flash drive so Boot Camp can create a bootable drive to install Windows 10. Read Next: Our. Installing Windows 10 with Boot Camp Before we go any further, you should back up your Mac. While Boot Camp is very stable, anything can go wrong when you partition your hard drive, and you want to be protected. Once you download your copy of Windows 10 — the full version, not the upgrade — we can begin the installation process. (You can also buy Windows 10 on a USB flash drive.) Open up Boot Camp Assistant, which can be found in the Utilities folder in your Applications list.
Boot Camp will prompt you to back up your Mac, which you should have already done. The next page will ask you to select the tasks you want Boot Camp to complete. Check all the boxes, make sure your flash drive is plugged in, and click continue.
Select the Windows 10 ISO location (Boot Camp automatically found it in my Downloads folder), and choose the USB drive as the destination, and click Continue. Boot Camp will create a boot drive with all of the necessary drivers. Now is the time to go outside and clean out the garage, start building a new vision board, or get a head start on your taxes — this is going to take a while. It took a bit over an hour for Boot Camp to finish the boot drive in our test. (Since Windows 10 is fresh out the box, Boot Camp doesn’t officially support it yet, which could mean some drivers are missing. After a few initial issues including an unresponsive Start menu that was fixed by a restart, The Verge’s MacBook Air running Windows 10 ran flawlessly, with no noticeable driver errors. But still, install at your own risk until Apple issues an update for Boot Camp.) If you want to play games, make sure your partition is large enough After Boot Camp creates your USB boot drive, it will prompt you to choose how much of your hard drive you want to partition for Windows.
This is a critical decision: after you choose, you cannot shrink or expand the partition without completely reinstalling Windows. If you just want access to Windows 10 and only plan on using a couple apps, 30GB will suffice (a minimum of 20GB is necessary). But if you’re looking to play PC games or use Windows 10 as your main OS, you’re going to want to ramp up the available space in the partition. Once you make your decision, click Install. During this part of the installation, your Mac will restart a few times, ultimately landing you at a screen that will ask you which partition you want to install Windows 10 on.
Select the partition labeled 'Boot Camp,' format it for NFTS, and continue with the installation. You’ll go through the setup wizard where Windows will ask you for the product key and you’ll be on your way.
The Windows 10 experience on Mac To switch back and forth between OS X and Windows 10, you’ll need to restart your Mac. Once it begins to reboot, hold down the Option key until you see the boot manager. Click on the partition with the corresponding operating system you want to use. Removing Windows 10 is as simple as installing it If Windows 10 is giving you issues or you just want to get rid of it, removing Windows from your Mac and restoring it to the original, single partition state is a simple process: open Boot Camp, and check the 'Remove Windows 7 or later' box, then click Continue. To remove the entire Windows partition, click Restore on the next screen.
Boot Camp will ask for your password and then restore your Mac to its original state. Windows 10 runs well on the Mac — on our early-2014 MacBook Air, the OS hasn’t shown any noticeable sluggishness or major issues that you wouldn’t find on a PC. The biggest difference between using Windows 10 on a Mac and a PC is the keyboard. You can’t remap keys easily, which means if you were used to using Cmd+c for copy on OS X, you’ll have to remember that it won’t work on Windows (it’s Cntrl+c). It’s definitely an inconvenience, but not one big enough to say you shouldn’t give Windows 10 on Mac a try. The main issue you’ll have is battery life, as we barely got 3 hours of usage on a full charge. Will it change when Apple updates Boot Camp for Windows 10?
Possibly, but if you’re looking for anything close to the 10 hours of battery life you normally get from a MacBook Air, you should probably just pick up.