LogMeIn Goes Mac

We’ve noted the correlation between web workers and Mac users before – which is one reason why we keep an eye on tools designed to make it easier to use your Mac over the web. Now remote access specialists LogMeIn have released LogMeIn Free for Mac, browser-based remote access software that lets you control your Mac’s screen, mouse, and keyboard from pretty much anywhere. I gave the released version a spin and it worked flawlessly, even across browsers and operating systems.

To use LogMeIn Free, you’ll need an account on LogMeIn’s web site first – a simple matter of supplying an e-mail address and password and clicking a confirmation link. After that, you download and install their software on the Mac that you want to remote control, and it starts listening for connections from the internet. To connect, you open a browser window to the LogMeIn site. You’ll need both your LogMeIn password and the username and password for your Mac to sign in, which is comforting. Once connected, screen and keyboard response was good, and I had no trouble making the remote Mac do what I wanted.


LogMeIn is also beta-testing LogMeIn Rescue for Mac, which is similar except that it does not require the preinstall step: this is intended for support techs who might need to fix a customer’s computer remotely. Both LogMeIn Free and LogMeIn Rescue are supported on Tiger and Leopard.

With Back to my Mac being a standard part of Leopard, is there still room for products like LogMeIn? Probably so. Back to my Mac is nicely integrated, but it requires a Mac on both ends of the connection. LogMeIn, being browser-based, lets you get hold of your Mac remotely, even if you’re stuck at an internet cafe or client site where there are only Windows computers as far as the eye can see.

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