Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
of him, and would like to connect to his account on the iMac via Screen
Sharing to check some files.
Even though Jane is using the iMac, there's nothing stopping Gary from
remotely logging into his desktop via Screen Sharing. If Gary specifies his
own
username and password, he'll be asked if he wants to get permission to
access Jane's desktop or log into his own account and see his own desktop.
If he selects the former, Jane will see a dialog box asking her to give him
permission. If he clicks the latter, Gary will be shown the iMac's login screen,
where he can log in to his own desktop as if he's sitting in front of it. Jane
won't be aware of any of this and can continue working (the desktop Gary
sees is described as being
virtual
and only he can see it). In other words, Jane
and Gary will be able to access their desktops on the iMac, simultaneously.
There are a few things to note, however. First, this won't work if Back To My
Mac is used when setting up Screen Sharing. It will work only if—as mentioned
during the setup instructions earlier—the Internet router the iMac is connected
to has been configured to allow incoming Screen Sharing connections. Gary
will also need to connect to the iMac manually via the Screen Saver app—see
the instructions in “Manually Connect to Screen-Sharing Computers.”
Second, this assumes that Gary has an administrator user account on the
iMac. This is the default type of account, so he probably does. However, if
he's merely a standard user, on the iMac it's necessary during screen-sharing
setup to open System Preferences, click the Sharing icon, select Screen
Sharing in the list on the left, and click the radio button alongside Allow
Access for All Users.
Avoid Sharing Your Clipboard When Screen Sharing
One caveat when using OS X's Screen Sharing tool is that any items copied
or cut to the clipboard on either computer are automatically transferred to
the clipboard on the other computer. This includes not only text but also files,
images, and so on.
This can be annoying, but turning it off is simple: when the Screen Sharing
app is running and you're connected to the remote computer, simply click
Edit→Disable Shared Clipboard.
This will affect only the current screen-sharing session. To make the change
permanent, click Screen Sharing→Preferences, and remove the check from
Use Shared Clipboard.
