[leejoramo]

I agree. VNC is a great hack, but it is a hack.

Windows RDP has been amazing for modern desktops. Prior to having over 8GB RAM and an SSD drive, I would often access Windows from by Mac via RDP. Since I am mostly Mac OS X, Linux or Windows visualized on my Mac these days, I seldom use it RDP, but I am always amazed at how responsive it is compared to VNC.

The best remote desktop I have used was Timbuktu for Mac back in the early 90's. At that time, Timbuktu was able to utilize the Mac's great support for 1-bit (black/white) and other low-bit graphics modes, and you could have a very good remote experience even at high display resolutions via a 14.4kbps modem. Putting Mac OS X into gray scale mode helps, a little but VNC performance still sucks.

I also remember seeing an amazing demo of a NeXT system that was able to push its Display Postscript based terminals to remote systems. Alas, Apple lost that when Display Postscript was replaced by PDF.