14 DAY TRIAL // Lately, more and more computer experts appeal to remote computer control in order to solve their customers' problems. This method is convenient, comfortable and extremely cheap, as you sit in the comfort of your home and help your clients. The applications that make the bridge between the computers are numerous and paid versions are truly a blessing as they come with various options for adjusting screen resolution, color depth, resource allocation etc.
However, there is some serious competition from freeware category that came up with a few applications worthy of your utmost attention. UltraVNC for instance is extremely stable, low on computer resources and quite easy to use for an average user.
Although I have to admit that the application is not for every user, UltraVNC does an impressive job linking two desktop screens and rendering them to one another.
Among paid versions of remote computer control there is Techinline Remote Desktop, an uber easy to use online application that bridges the computers together. It is a web based remote support that comes with strong 128-bit encryption.
But let's get back to freewares as a new promising solution is making its way out on the market. Yuuguu is in beta stage for now and promises a lot for the future. The application combines chatting with remote desktop viewing and controlling as well as VoIP, but this is restricted to a limited number of countries (mostly European countries and United States).
Using Yuuguu requires logging in to the application each time it is launched, but this effort is easily overcome as the app can remember your details with no problem. The moment you sign up (only your email is required and no other personal info is needed) the login password will be sent to you automatically.
The main application window looks just like a chat window storing all your contacts. Adding a new contact on the list consists in typing in the desired email address. The software will connect to the server to let you know if that contact is already signed up to Yuuguu or not. If the user is not using Yuuguu an inviting email will be sent providing all needed information in order to get started.
Setting up the program is a cinch. You can change your account details (name and password) and configure Yuuguu to start with Windows in minimized mode, enable automatic login and sound as well as enable fast screen-sharing.
Once all the settings are made, you can proceed to sharing your screen. Each user starts his/her own screen sharing session. It is kind of awkward, as generally, local computers ask for permission of viewing remote desktop and the other part accepts or declines. In this case, the remote part initiates screen sharing and the local computer has to accept/refuse the connection.
Screen sharing is initiated from chat window and once the remote computer accepts the connection, you can see whatever the remote desktop displays. Besides viewing mode, Yuuguu also provides control mode that lets you intervene on the other computer. Of course, both types of screen sharing have to be approved by the user.
Yuuguu viewing window contains few controls, but the necessary ones are available. Thus, in the top left hand corner of the screen you have Request Control option, Actual Size (shows remote desktop in its full size). In the middle of the screen (top part), you have the option of leaving the session and screen load bar.
There is no question on the utility of the application, but the way it works is quite disappointing. Preliminary testing of the software was done in a LAN environment. The latency of updating local view was way too large for us to try Yuuguu outside our network.
Although during our testing, the application disappointed us, we have to appreciate the fact that it allows remote control of a Mac from a PC and vice versa. The same latency is available, but there are few apps able to do this for free.
Yuuguu has great potential of becoming the next best free screen-sharing product on the market, especially as it includes chat support and VoIP for some countries. The improvements that have to be made relate to waiting time for the local screen to update with remote data.
The Good
Yuuguu is easy to handle and requires minimum configuration settings. All you need to start using the application is a valid email address.
Supports chat between two or multiple users.
The Bad
Despite its ease of use, Yuuguu is not as snappy as users would like it to be. During our testing, we recorded latencies of even five seconds.
On Vista, the application does not install in Program files, but in UsersCurrentUserApplication DataRoaming which makes it a bit uncomfortable.
The local computer enables screen sharing, which is exactly the other way around (remote computer should send a screen-sharing of local machine request). But this is just a point of view.
The Truth
Promising but still needs work. It is in beta stage so there isn't much to ask from a developing project. Hopefully, everything will run smoothly in the final version.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
