Virtual Network Computer
One of the attractive features of Mac OS X is the ease with which you can integrate a Mac OS X system into a Unix environment consisting of multiple Unix workstations that typically rely on X11 for their GUI. In the previous section, for example, we explained how to log in to a remote Unix machine, launch an X11 application, and display the application on your Mac. The reverse process is also possible. You can log into a remote Mac OS X machine from another computer, launch an application on the remote Mac OS X machine, and have the application display on your local machine. The local machine, meanwhile, can be running the X Window System, Microsoft Windows, or any another platform supported by Virtual Network Computer (VNC).
VNC consists of two components:
A VNC server, which must be installed on the remote machine
A VNC viewer, which is used on the local machine to view and control applications running on the remote machine
The VNC connection is made through a TCP/IP connection.
The VNC server and viewer may not only be on different machines, but they can also be installed on different operating systems. This allows you to, for example, connect from Solaris to Mac OS X. Using VNC, you can launch and run both X11 and Aqua applications on Mac OS X, but view and control them from your Solaris box.
VNC can be installed on Mac OS X with the Fink package manager (look for the vnc package), but that version (the standard Unix version of the VNC server) supports ...
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