MetaVNC - a window aware VNC

UCHINO Satoshi <utinos@users.sourceforge.net>

Last Updated: 9/4/2007

Japanese version is here.

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What's New

The portability of source code for unix-like systems is improved.

About MetaVNC

MetaVNC pursues a remote desktop environment that users can control applications on different hosts seamlessly. MetaVNC is a window aware VNC. MetaVNC merges windows of multiple remote desktops into a single desktop screen. MetaVNC also comes with its own task bar and application menu, which makes it easy to control applications or windows on different hosts.

Furthermore, the Win32 version and linux version of MetaVNC viewer merges remote desktops with local desktops. It enables Linux and Windows remote desktops and local desktops to co-exist seamlessly!
If you use MS-Windows as a main desktop and connect remote Linux desktops through VNC, you must love it!

Screen Shots

More screenshots>>

The Java version MetaVNC viewer

The above image is a snapshot of the Java version of MetaVNC client which is connecting to a MetaVNC server on Windows2000 and a MetaVNC server on Linux (GNOME). You will notice (1) Windows applications and Linux applications co-exist (skin is handled properly), (2) a merged task bar on the top, and (3) a merged application menu on the top-left.

The Win32 version MetaVNC viewer

The above image is a snapshot of the Win32 version of MetaVNC client which is connecting to a MetaVNC server on Linux (GNOME) using the full screen mode. Since the background region of the remote desktop is transparent, the local desktop and the remote desktop co-exist seamlessly.

Platforms

Currently, the following implemetations are available;

Server
- Linux w/ X11
- Microsoft Windows 2000/XP
Client (Viewer)
- Java
- Linux w/ X11 (w/o Meta Window Manager)
- Windows 2000/XP (The freedesktop.org style menus of linux version servers are not supported yet.)

Download

Sources and binaries are available from the SourceForge.net project summary page.

Documents

Documents are available from here.

Related Works

MetaVNC is based on the following implementations;

RealVNC 4.0b4 for the protocol 3.7 (http://www.realvnc.com/)
TightVNC for most platforms except the linux server (http://www.tightvnc.com/)
xf4vnc (http://xf4vnc.sourceforge.net)
Ultr@VNC for old releases of win32 servers (http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net)

Acknowledgements

This project was developed as a part of the Collective at Stanford University, aiming at a suitable remote desktop environment for the "Virtual Appliances." The author thanks Prof. Monica Lam and project members, especially Constantine Sapuntzakis, for valuable discussions.