---
title: "Six Tools for managing multiple remote desktop sessions on windows and mac"
url: "https://osherove.com/blog/2013/2/22/tools-for-managing-multiple-remote-desktop-sessions-on-windo.md"
canonical: "https://osherove.com/blog/2013/2/22/tools-for-managing-multiple-remote-desktop-sessions-on-windo.html"
published: "2013-02-22T21:50:44"
updated: "2013-02-22T21:50:44"
tags: ["Cool Tools"]
author: "Roy Osherove"
description: "I use both mac and windows at work, and I do a lot of remote desktop stuff as well. I asked on twitter “what tools would you recommend on windows to manage remote desktops?” here is the list I got: RemoteNG - oldie but…"
usage: "Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page)."
license: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
---

# Six Tools for managing multiple remote desktop sessions on windows and mac

By Roy Osherove February 22, 2013 In [Cool Tools](https://osherove.com/blog/category/cool-tools)

**Historical article** · Originally published February 22, 2013; technical details may be outdated.

I use both mac and windows at work, and I do a lot of remote desktop stuff as well. I asked on twitter “what tools would you recommend on windows to manage remote desktops?”

## here is the list I got:

- [RemoteNG](http://www.mremoteng.org/) - oldie but a goodie
- Microsoft’s own free [RDCMan](http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=21101) - nice and simple
- [RoyalTS](http://www.code4ward.net/main/code4ward.aspx) – windows, mac and mobile, **not free**. I found this one very annoying and laborious to configure, although it did work well
- [Terminals](http://terminals.codeplex.com/) – open source client
- [MultiRdPC](http://multirdpc.codeplex.com/) – open source client
- [Cord](http://cord.sourceforge.net/) – (mac only) – open source client that I really like on the mac. easier to use than **royalts** and free.

other ideas? specific recommendations? comment!

side note: if you ever wondered [how to enable multiple RDP sessions to a windows 2008 server, here.](http://www.diaryofaninja.com/blog/2010/10/11/allow-multiple-rdp-sessions-to-a-windows-2008-server)

## More in Cool Tools

[All posts in Cool Tools](https://osherove.com/blog/category/cool-tools)

- Mar 16, 2013

    ### [Tools And Frameworks for Unit Testing in .NET for 2013](https://osherove.com/blog/2013/3/16/tools-and-frameworks-for-unit-testing-in-net-and-java.html)

- Jun 26, 2012

    ### [FakeItEasy or NSubstitute? Which should I use for samples in art of unit testing 2nd edition?](https://osherove.com/blog/2012/6/26/fakeiteasy-or-nsubstitute-which-should-i-use-for-samples-in.html)

- Jun 18, 2012

    ### [\[Cool Tool\] Chocolatey for windows is what you will not live without in two years](https://osherove.com/blog/2012/6/18/cool-tool-chocolatey-for-windows-is-what-you-will-not-live-w.html)


---

## About the author

**Roy Osherove**: Senior Solutions Architect at AWS working on AI for production and AI-driven development; author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership, with about 20 years of consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery.

### Sites

- [RobotPaper](https://robotpaper.ai/): This blog: AI patterns and anti-patterns, AI and coding agents, and engineering leadership.
- [osherove.com](https://osherove.com): Roy's personal site. Author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership; consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery, plus about 20 years of blog posts.
- [The Art of Unit Testing](https://www.artofunittesting.com): The Art of Unit Testing, 3rd Edition (Manning): readable, maintainable, trustworthy unit tests, plus TDD workshops in C#, JavaScript, Java and Kotlin.
- [5whys.com](https://www.5whys.com): Roy's writing on software team leadership: self-organizing teams, surviving chaos, learning mode and the Elastic Leadership model.
- [Pipeline Driven](https://pipelinedriven.org): Continuous delivery and DevOps practices: build patterns, pipeline-friendly testing, DevOps metrics and enterprise DevOps.
- [Elastic Leadership](https://www.elasticleadership.com): Elastic Leadership, Roy's framework for software team leaders (survival, learning and self-organizing modes).

### Social

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- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osherove/

### Contact

- Contact form: https://forms.gle/jQSx5KoXvrVA1JCK7

### License

Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page). License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/