Apple today announced Apple Remote Desktop 3, the third generation of Apple’s desktop management software. The software lets users remotely control Mac OS X computers.

Apple Remote Desktop 3 is a Universal application optimized to take
advantage of the power of Intel-based Macs with more than 50 new
features that deliver improvements in software distribution, asset
management and remote assistance.

“With Apple Remote Desktop 3, we’ve delivered powerful innovations
that make it even easier and more affordable to manage Macs,” said
Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product
Marketing. “Great new features such as remote Spotlight searching and
customized Automator actions take advantage of innovations in Tiger and
make Apple Remote Desktop 3 a valuable tool for anyone managing more
than one Mac.”

Apple Remote Desktop 3 offers a wide range of high performance
desktop management features including lightning-fast Spotlight searches
across multiple Tiger systems; over 30 Automator actions for easily
automating repetitive system administration tasks; a Dashboard Widget
that provides quick and convenient observation of remote systems; and
AutoInstall for installing software automatically on mobile systems
when they return online.

Other new features in Apple Remote Desktop 3 include:

• System Status Indicators that let administrators quickly check the overall health of multiple systems at a glance;
• Power Copy files up to 11 times faster than with Apple Remote Desktop 2*;
• Remote Drag and Drop files and folders between local and remote computers;
• Remote Copy and Paste for simple transfer of text and images between local and remote computers;
• Persistent Task History and Task Templates to make it easy to save and replicate repetitive tasks;
• Curtain Mode to hide the desktop of a system while it is being controlled remotely;
• Application Usage and User History Reports to track software compliance and monitor the use of unauthorized applications;
• Smart Computer Lists for dynamically managing systems based on specified criteria; and
• AES 128-bit encryption for secure communications between Apple Remote Desktop 3 and clients.

Pricing & Availability

Apple Remote Desktop 3 is available immediately through The Apple
Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a
suggested retail price of $299 (US) for managing up to 10 systems and
$499 (US) for managing an unlimited number of systems. Special
education pricing can be found at www.apple.com/education/store.

The administration and client system for Apple Remote Desktop 3 is
designed to run on any computer running Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later. An
Ethernet (recommended), IP over FireWire or AirPort network connection
is required.

*Based on network copy performance using 1000Base-T and Power Macs
with dual processor G5 2.5 GHz CPUs, 2GB of RAM and running Mac OS X
version 10.4.3.