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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

    ShowMyPC

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AShowMyPC is a web conferencing and remote administration and help / support tool from the small company of the same name in San Francisco, California.

    $14

    per month

    Pricing
    Remote Desktop ServicesShowMyPC
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Remote Desktop ServicesShowMyPC
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Remote Desktop ServicesShowMyPC
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    ShowMyPc.com
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    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
    No answers on this topic
    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 ServicesShowMyPC
    Remote Administration
    Comparison of Remote Administration features of Remote Desktop Services and ShowMyPC
    Feature
    Remote Desktop Services
    4.6
    5 Ratings
    53% below category average
    ShowMyPC
    7.4
    2 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Screen sharing8.25 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    File transfer4.65 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Instant message1.01 Ratings7.02 Ratings
    Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication6.02 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Access to sleeping/powered-off computers1.12 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Over-the-Internet remote session6.75 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Initiate remote control from mobile3.64 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Remote management of servers & workstations8.24 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Remote Active Directory® management8.54 Ratings00 Ratings
    Centralized management dashboard2.23 Ratings6.02 Ratings
    Session record2.23 Ratings7.02 Ratings
    Monitoring and Alerts3.13 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Annotations00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Multi-platform remote control00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Remote Desktop ServicesShowMyPC
    Small Businesses
    N-able Take Control
    Score7.2 out of 10
    N-able Take Control
    Score7.2 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 ServicesShowMyPC
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.8
    (20 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 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 ServicesShowMyPC
    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
    ShowMyPc.com
    If you need unattended remote access, you will need one of the paid plans, so for a quick always on remote support option, [ShowMyPC] may not be the best suited. If security is an issue and your client's compliance rules won't allow always on remote access, then ShowMyPC is probably the best on-[the]-fly remote access on the market. On demand access is always free and can be done via browser or via a very small client download.
    Incentivized
    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
    ShowMyPc.com
    • Easy access to help with software issues.
    • Technical support
    • Access to Remote desktop control
    • Recording sessions for paper trails
    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
    ShowMyPc.com
    • Free level should have automatic reconnect on reboot
    • Being a remote access only software pricing plans could be better
    • Branding should be allowed on lower plans
    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
    ShowMyPc.com
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Microsoft
    There are some third party tools available that allow you to manage multiple connections.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ShowMyPc.com
    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
    ShowMyPc.com
    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
    ShowMyPc.com
    ShowMyPC lags behind its competition when it comes to usability and smoothness in operations, its UI on the web is complicated and seems out of place. The high point of this product is its customer service provided through chat support for any issues which is instant. The product also lacks integration with rd party CSPs for file sharing and it does not have a MAC client which works against it.
    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
    ShowMyPc.com
    • The on-demand access is free - can't get a better ROI than that
    • Plans are relatively inexpensive - as long as you are not managing large amounts of devices
    • Having a go to remote access solution that enables clients to control access is priceless
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots