Need to access your home Mac while you’re nowhere near it? If you’ve got a Mac laptop with you, a clever combination of Mac OS X’s built-in Screen Sharing, Dynamic DNS, and strategically configured firewalls can make that happen. But, if you don’t want the hassle of dealing with them, or you’re reliant on somebody else’s Mac or—heavens forbid—a PC, you may need something more like Citrix’s GoToMyPC.
Long a staple in the Windows world, GoToMyPC has now updated to version 7.0, which allows you to use your Mac remotely, from any computer with an Internet connection and a Web browser. All you need to do is install the GoToMyPC software on your home Mac and then visit the site and log in for secure remote access to your computer, just as if you were sitting in front of it. No need to fiddle with VPNs, VNC, or other three-letter acronyms beginning with “V.” And, if you do have problems, customer service is provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week to registered customers.
GoToMyPC for Mac requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later for the server and, for the client computer, Mac OS X 10.4 or later and a browser that supports Java. The standard version, allowing you to install the software on one computer, costs $20 per month; professional and corporate versions are also available for multiple servers and clients and vary in cost. A free 30-day trial is also available.