Version 9 of the Netsupport Manager system management and remote control suite aims to offer several improvements, including an enhanced interface, inventory system and new monitoring mode. It also marks Netsupport's first attempt to support Linux and Pocket PC devices.

The graphical interface is easy, and administrators have two screens: the first for setting up, managing and detecting clients; and the second for viewing and interacting with clients.

Clients can be set up via the configurator or by loading a standard configuration to the system you will manage remotely. There are many connectivity, audio and security options.

Administrators can view what a remote client is doing, share control of it or take it over. The inventory function provides information on the hardware configuration of a remote client, programs being run and patches and hot-fixes applied.

Data on processes and services can be obtained through the console, but better reporting tools would be useful to identify and compare software and hardware configurations on clients.

Clients can request help, call the administrator or use chat, but only when the administrator's remote control panel is online. It would be useful to queue a request to arrive when the control panel becomes available.

For Windows users who have or are trialling Linux systems, Netsupport 9 does not require a virtual network computing client, although one is needed to connect to and remotely control Mac systems. We connected easily to SuSE and Mandrake clients, but control was better for Windows systems than Linux desktops.

Prices:
1 user £133.95 (£114 ex VAT)
2 users £211.50 (£180)
10 users £564 (£480)

Contact:
Netsupport 01778 382 270
www.netsupportsoftware.com

Specifications:

• 486 processor
• 4MB Ram
• 10MB disk space

Supports Dos, Server 2003, IPX/SPX, Netbios or TCP/IP, Windows 95 upwards; SuSE, Red Hat/Enterprise, Mandrake & Fedora; Pocket PC 2003 Activesync/Wifi Lan 32MB Ram