Jump Desktop - Mac OS X Remote Desktop RPD Client

I just wanted to write up a quick endorsement for Jump Desktop. I’ve been using Microsoft Remote Desktop to manage Windows servers from my Mac for a few years now and I finally decided I’d had enough. I looked a little bit at CoRD but didn’t actually even download it to give it a try. It’s strangley blocked by my corporate proxy server, but it didn’t seem to offer much in the way of managing a large number of saved connections so I didn’t bother trying to download it through other means. Instead I found myself settling on Jump Desktop. It was pretty hard to accept the idea of paying $30 for something when I use Terminals for free on Windows but after the initial purchase I haven’t regretted it.

Tagging

One of the best features is that your RDP connections are organized by tags and each can have multiple tags. So I can easily click on the tag group to see all the servers in my lab domain, or I can see a group of domain controllers to see all the domain controllers including both the lab and prod domains. With a good system of tags it’s very easy to find the server(s) you are looking for.

Screen Sizing

It is also much better at dealing with my dual monitor setup than Microsoft’s RDP client. With the Microsoft client, if I didn’t want to run in full screen mode then I was pretty much limited to setting a specific resolution. The selection of resolutions was pretty limited and never seemed sized right because sometimes I’d be using an external monitor and sometimes I’m just running native on my 11" MacBook Air. Jump Desktop always sizes the RDP session correctly to make the best use of my monitor without going full screen.

Conclusion

I don’t have much more to say other than I’m sorry that I didn’t spend the $30 sooner. It makes working on my Mac in a Windows environment so much more pleasant and productive. If you are on the fence then I’d say just buy it. $30 isn’t really much money for something I use every day.