Top iPad apps for Windows users: Part I

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	TOP STORY Top iPad apps for Windows users: Part I
	By Woody Leonhard Full disclosure: I love my iPad2. Don’t know how I ever lived without it. On the other hand, I have a complex, love-hate dependency on Windows. Getting the best from both? Not so easy.

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The full text of this column is posted at WindowsSecrets.com/top-story/top-ipad-apps-for-windows-users-part-i/ (opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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I find the Mocha RDP Lite app for both iPad and iPhone is as usable as MS RDP and even better if you use the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard.
I use it with all may server farms.
DF

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Thanks, David, I’ll check it out.

I also should’ve mentioned Jump. It’s getting very good reviews, too.

Man, it wasn’t all that long ago that LogMeIn and RDP were the only choices – and everybody was convinced that they had to buy Windows Pro to get the funcionality! Times sure do change…

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One other thing about TeamViewer – it works equally well with an iPhone. I think its real worth is that it is so device independent. For professional reasons, I have a TeamViewer licence and use it with great success on a Windows based tablet to control another Windows machine connected to a projector. This means that I can control movies without getting out of my seat.

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Is there absolutely no open source software for transferring files between a PC and an iPad ? Is the creation of such software a theoretical impossiblity, e.g. because the iPad is totally protected against non-Apple solutions ?

I had to remove iTunes from my PC because it had become so troublesome and there is no way I’m going to re-install it.

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@pacman: I know of no open source programs to transfer files between PC an iPad, but I’m sure there are. However, why not look at DropBox, which you can install on your PC and on your iPad. Use it to transfer data over the air quick and efficiently.

@Woody: A note of caution on TeamViewer that I stumbled into recently – if Port 80 is not assigned to any service, or is otherwise available, TeamViewer will grab it, see this article. I’m sure you are aware of the dangers of that. Most home users will not experience any problems since port80 will not be forwarded externally. However, when recently working on a Small Business Server that had TeamViewer installed, I found it grabbed port 80 and served a page up to the general public. This happened because there was a delay in the IIS webserver starting upon reboot. I still use TeamViewer and have disabled it from grabbing port80, but it has gone down in my estimation as a result.

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@pacman: I know of no open source programs to transfer files between PC an iPad, but I’m sure there are. However, why not look at DropBox, which you can install on your PC and on your iPad. Use it to transfer data over the air quick and efficiently.

Thanks for this tip. For privacy reasons I’m not keen on putting files on cloud servers but you’ve given me another idea. Maybe if Ï put the files on a hard drive connected to a plug computer (e.g. PogoPlug) on my home wireless network I would be able to download those files to an iPad. Or does the iPad have ways of blocking that too ? I don’t have an iPad (yet) so cannot test it myself.

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Dropbox is on my list for Part II. Works great with the iPad2.

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Hello pacman10 and welcome to the Lounge!

I have in the past used CopyTransManager to manage my iPod Classic. The only reason I no longer use it is because I have added an iMac to my home network, and iTunes is definitely better (in my limited experience) on a Mac than on a Windows PC. Also, CopyTransManager is only available for Windows. It was a very useable substitute for iTunes. The current version supports the iPad as well. I have not tested it for iPad use, but this chart declares it to be compatible with all iPad models. It is definitely worth downloading and giving it a try. CopyTransManager is available as a free download.

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I thought this was Windows Secrets not ipad secrets…this was like a big commercial for the ipad. If it doesn’t play nice with Windows (and what Apple product does?) then buy something that does..Happily sent from my Nook Color!

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This isn’t a commercial for the iAnything. It’s simply examining ways of connecting Windows systems to an OS that doesn’t want to be connected to anything other than Apple products. Put another way, we’re looking at Windows Connectivity Secrets. For me, an enormous advantage of Windows is its connectivity. Simple connectability is one of the reasons Windows dominates the corporate desktop market. The same applies to Android. I bought an Android phone because it connects seamlessly to my Windows systems and allows file transfers via Windows Explorer.

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This one, like others, offers the iPad user control of both Mac and Windows systems from afar, even while away from home, as long as you’ve an Internet connection. It is not terribly expensive (and they sometimes have sales) and it uses a client/server design. The server code is free and gets installed on each OS you wish to control. The client side shows all accessible systems where the server is running. The screen view can be native or more limited. The latest version is fast and the use of the mouse is no longer as tricky as in the past. For those who want to view video from PC’s to the iPad this one is excellent. All in all, a solid effort.

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I thought this was Windows Secrets not ipad secrets…this was like a big commercial for the ipad. If it doesn’t play nice with Windows (and what Apple product does?) then buy something that does..Happily sent from my Nook Color!

I couldn’t agree more. I hate itunes and I have no interest in any of Apple’s overpriced toys. If Windows Secrets is going to start covering apple products, I will cancel my subscription.

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I couldn’t agree more. I hate itunes and I have no interest in any of Apple’s overpriced toys. If Windows Secrets is going to start covering apple products, I will cancel my subscription.

Interesting. This article has generated an enormous amount of email, and it’s almost entirely bimodal – either people love the iPad and are thankful that we’re finally covering how to work with it from Windows; or people think I’m communing with the devil and defiling the memory of Windows Secrets Newsletter!

Lighten up, folks. We cover connections with all sorts of things. Printers. Social media. Cloud stuff. Even Office 365. The iPad’s an important, but very different, part of the ecosystem. We’ll have lots of tablet stuff with Windows 8, I guarantee.

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For a secure connection between your iPad and Windows PC I suggest looking at
Windows (all free):
1. freeSSHd: http://www.freesshd.com/
2. AutoLogOn: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963905
3. set up LockWorkStation: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963905
– place 2 & 3 in Startup so remote WOL starts PC and a p/w is required to log on
– freeSSHd also runs on boot and above provides security if someone is at your PC
– your monitor may be off

iPad:
1. iWOL $0.99 for remote turn-on of the PC
2. iSSH $9.99 for secure connection to the PC even in an “open” Wi-Fi setting.
now you can turn off the PC while away but remotely turn it on and securely connect.

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For a secure connection between your iPad and Windows PC I suggest looking at
Windows (all free):
iPad:
1. iWOL $0.99 for remote turn-on of the PC
2. iSSH $9.99 for secure connection to the PC even in an “open” Wi-Fi setting.
now you can turn off the PC while away but remotely turn it on and securely connect.

I have a friend who just couldn’t get iWOL to work. I haven’t tried it personally. Any tricks I should know about?

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It’s fine to cover Apple products as they relate to Windows, as you have done in this article. If dealing with your iPad is such a hassle, I’d encourage you to take a look at one of the rapidly expanding pool of Android tablets. We have a Xoom and it has become an indispensible tool eliminating the need to buy a new Windows based laptop for the forseeable future. No problem with remote access or transferring files with Windows on your local network either wired or wireless.

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Good gracious, Woody!

For someone who has read you avidly since the days of the first version of WOPR, to hear you’ve gone to the “dark side” is unnerving.

Maybe my days as a Windows-only small business IT guy are numbered.

If only I could convince “da boss” that the combination of an iPad used remotely and a desktop Windows 7 office PC were the path to productivity nirvana…

:rolleyes:

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Besides, having the curiousity to grab one of the tablets this year, reading in Woddy’s thread about the ability to use TeamViewer on either one, is giving me great pleasure.

Given, TV has the same functionality on the tablet as on Windos PCs, for me this would strongly widen the use of a tablet.

I am, as hobby, producing and presenting internet radio shows to a sometimes large, and sometimes tiny little audience. As I use my favorite streaming platform, the freely available Flatcast, I have gained some knowledge, tricks and hints of the usage on the different Windows Versions/platforms.

Meanwhile, many fellow radiopeople contact me (some of them are not very much into PC-stuff, if it goes beyond simple browsing) to get their Machine ready for streaming music and presenting their show.

Now this is the point where TeamViewer kicks in. I am with it since the very early releases, and even worked with a corporate license while employed @ a logistics Company with several branches (training, troubleshooting, installations)

If my support for the fellow radiomakers could be done from a tablet with TeamViewer, it would be the main app running ….. File transfer (easy to do) even video or audio connections, and a chat feature makeing it versatile for almost every need. Since version 5, I even use it inside my home network, to control some of my machines while doing a show on air, transfering music files into the studio….etc.

Now, I am realy looking forward to grab a tablet, when the prices drop over here in central Europe (we are far behind you Americans in this concern, 6 – 8 Months is the delay)

And, as a final note, if this was too much OT, bear with me, it was my first post, though reading WS since quite a while.

Greetings from bittercold (-21°C)southern Germany,

••K®IS••

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OpayerHD Lite (Free) will play your XviD movies ripped on the the PC. It’s a good replacement for the VLC player
that was once offered on the App Store. Transfering them to the iPad from within iTunes installed on the PC is a bit cumbersome though.

I think it’s good that the iPad gets some coverage here at the Lounge, many Windows users are warming up to it for good reasons.
Although I would never consider going Mac for obvious reasons, I can still recognize a decent piece of hardware when I see it.
With the advent of so many PC users on the iPad, good work arounds will become more and more plentiful.

PC users don’t whine when something dosn’t work, we make it work, and we are usually successful .

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