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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Remote Desktop Services

    Score7.7 out of 10
    N/ARemote Desktop Services from Microsoft is virtual desktop and remote user session technology.N/A

    N-able Take Control

    Score7.2 out of 10
    N/AN-able™ Take Control is a cloud-based remote control solution for MSPs, to access & troubleshoot end devices. With support for Windows®, Mac®, and Linux® machines, MSPs can work from these or iOS® or Android® devices with the N-able native app.

    $45

    per month

    Pricing
    Remote Desktop ServicesN-able Take Control
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Take Control Plus
    $45
    per month
    Take Control Plus
    Contact Vendor
    Take Control
    Contact Vendor
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Remote Desktop ServicesN-able Take Control
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsNo credit card required. Login info sent directly to your email. Access technical support during your trial.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Remote Desktop ServicesN-able Take Control
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    N-able
    Chose N-able Take Control
    Take Control can be accessed through a browser whereas Windows Remote Desktop requires settings on the PC and device to remote into the end device. Installing the end devices application has mostly been a flawless install with limited setting configurations. GoToMyPC has …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    67%
    Would buy again
    4 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    88%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    83%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    88%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Remote Desktop ServicesN-able Take Control
    Remote Administration
    Comparison of Remote Administration features of Remote Desktop Services and N-able Take Control
    Feature
    Remote Desktop Services
    4.6
    5 Ratings
    53% below category average
    N-able Take Control
    7.9
    14 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Screen sharing8.25 Ratings8.013 Ratings
    File transfer4.65 Ratings10.014 Ratings
    Instant message1.01 Ratings5.012 Ratings
    Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication6.02 Ratings8.21 Ratings
    Access to sleeping/powered-off computers1.12 Ratings1.05 Ratings
    Over-the-Internet remote session6.85 Ratings10.013 Ratings
    Initiate remote control from mobile3.64 Ratings9.08 Ratings
    Remote management of servers & workstations8.24 Ratings10.013 Ratings
    Remote Active Directory® management8.64 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Centralized management dashboard2.23 Ratings7.011 Ratings
    Session record2.23 Ratings8.07 Ratings
    Monitoring and Alerts3.13 Ratings8.011 Ratings
    Annotations00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Multi-platform remote control00 Ratings7.011 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Remote Desktop ServicesN-able Take Control
    Small Businesses
    N-able Take Control
    Score7.2 out of 10
    RemotePC
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Remote Desktop Manager
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Remote Desktop Manager
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access
    Score9.1 out of 10
    BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Remote Desktop ServicesN-able Take Control
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.8
    (20 ratings)
    6.0
    (14 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.4
    (5 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    3.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Remote Desktop ServicesN-able Take Control
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    This is well-suited if you need to log in to a remote machine on occasion to make updates or change configurations. It is also good for a production environment or for environments where people need to log in to use common applications, so you don't need to install the application on each individual client.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    N-able
    I have used a number of remote access systems over my IT/MSP career, and Take Control stands out as the best I have ever used. If you are using the N-Able RMM I highly recommend, Take Control over the other options that can be integrated into the platform
    Read full review
    Pros
    Microsoft
    • When you connect with RDS, everything looks and feels (and is) exactly like you're sitting at that desktop. This is great for us and for users.
    • You can sign in with RDS and the desktop will be the same as when you left it (if you choose to set it up that way).
    • Although they take some setup, RemoteApps are a very handy way to let users access a program without requiring them to actually connect to a remote desktop on the server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    N-able
    • Take Control is really good at accessing a device with no end-user involvement. The user doesn't have to click on permissions or visit a particular site. We simply can take control of their device from the RMM dashboard.
    • If Microsoft issues a patch/update, I can schedule a release of a mass install to all client sites at the click of a mouse from within my office.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • Remote Desktop Services currently does not support multiple monitors on the terminal server. Unlike other applications such as Teamviewer, there's no feature to toggle between multiple screens even if they were connected to the terminal server.
    • Remote Desktop Services should provide an option to scale up or down the screen size after a connection is established. Currently you can only adjust the screen size prior to a connection is established. So you'll have to take a best guess at what display screen resolution will fit best on your screen.
    • Remote Desktop Services should offer some kind of menu to send special key strokes like Ctrl+Alt+Del to the terminal server. Currently the substitute for that particular combination is Ctrl+Alt+End. But I have yet to discover a replacement for other combination keystrokes such as Alt+PrintScrn.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    N-able
    • Performance on low-end machines.
    • Verbosity when changing stream quality.
    • File manager needs improving, dragging files causes graphical issues.
    • Connection time needs to be reduced.
    • Ability to adjust re-connection time.
    • Integration with more password-storage applications.
    • Screen blanking is buggy in some instances and makes the session unusable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Microsoft
    The initial setup for Remote Desktop Services is complex, and licensing is costly. Each user connects to their virtual desktop hosted by a single server or group of servers, so a change or issue with servers quickly impacts every single user at the same time. Aside from that, users appreciate seeing their same personal desktop from any device or geographical location.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    N-able
    The interface needs a lot of updating. It's just too "busy."
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Microsoft
    There are some third party tools available that allow you to manage multiple connections.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    N-able
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    As with any Microsoft Server product, support for Remote Desktop Services requires a paid support package. These are license-based and very costly, on top of the already costly product licensing. Microsoft's licensing is complicated to begin with, so setting up licensing alone essentially requires a licensing expert's counsel. There is community documentation and support available on Microsoft websites, as well as community websites.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    N-able
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    We selected Remote Desktop Services based upon price alone. Other solutions on the market are significantly more expensive, but if your company can foot the bill you should seriously consider products that have been on the market for longer. The lack of an ability to easily upgrade farm servers has been a challenge for us - although it is still faster than updating an application on 2000+ machines. The lack of a centralized management console in 2008 R2 is also challenging, but you get by with the tools available to you. If you don't have the money to spend on Citrix or VMWare Horizon, Remote Desktop Services is a decent replacement.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    N-able
    We were primarily a team-viewer customer before this point but the continued increases on cost, feature issues as well as core functionality and load issues we were beginning to see on the host machines we started looking for other options. As we were already a solar-winds customer utilizing the SAAS and Take Control for our Managed customers it was a no-brainer to look into Take Control. After a short review and the fact that we are already very familiar with the system via our management dashboard, it was an easy yes
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • Allowed remote users access from home
    • Shared file access for multipolar users from a centralized location
    • Cost to add additional users when maxed out
    • Purchase multiple licenses for programs to run in virtual machines. Or unable to run on a virtual machine
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    N-able
    • We we're able to bundle Take Control into our RMM pricing removing the need to pay for a separate system and maintain its intergration
    • Remote access is only a click away saving our techs time
    • Reliable connection mean issues are resolved without having to 'fix' the remote access first
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    N-able Take Control Screenshots

    Screenshot of N-able Take Control DashboardScreenshot of Take Control - home