This excellent program lets you assume control of another computer across a local network or the Internet.

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• Version: 4.1.3
• Price: Free
• Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP/NT

A particularly good choice for mobile users, VNC includes a Java client that enables you to access a remote computer via any browser without installing any software.

At present, there are ready-made versions for Windows, Unix, Linux, and Solaris. In our testing, VNC performed without considerable slowdown over a LAN connection and did not consume much memory. (To operate over a slow connection, you may need to reduce colors, remove the desktop wallpaper, or have only one active window.)

The interface has no means of handling numerous connections, though you may save them as usual shortcuts. The program can be made to run as a service process, allowing you to connect to a machine that has nobody logged onto it. The installation files are small enough that you can save them on a floppy. This free program is suitable both for home and business use, especially since it is open source, fully documented, and uses a platform-independent protocol that enables you to remotely operate on a variety of platforms.