Installing OS/X Supporting Applications

Installing an OS/X SSH/Xwindows Client Application (X11)

X11 comes with modern Mac OS/X systems and is often installed as a standard application. If this is not the case, please follow Apple's instructions for installing the X11 application. It is best to place the application in the Dock for easy access. You can then proceed to the Using OS/X X11 section.

If you need help with installing a working version of X11 on OS/X please Email lab@stat.wisc.edu to get immediate help and to increase priority for adding more information on this topic.

Installing a Virtual Desktop Manager for OS/X

A virtual desktop manager allows a single screen on your laptop or home computer to operate as a virtual window into a much larger display space.This is useful in general, and especially so when setting up a laptop to use X windows with a Linux system. Newer versions of OS/X (10.5X and above) provide a built-in desktop manager called Spaces which works with Expose'. You can set up this manager by following Apple's instructions. There is also a public-domain desktop manager available that can be used with older versions of OS/X, and can be made to work with Spaces (though behavior is "idiosyncratic"). The stable version (5.3) is built for non-Intel Macs. There is also a newer version (5.4) that is supposed to be for Intel Macs. You can download one of the public domain Desktop Manager packages and complete a standard installation. Please check the documentation for setup.

Installing an FTP package for OS/X

Good OS/X applications for Secure FTP are not free, though they are fairly inexpensive. Please check these options for FTP on OS/X:

Transmit by Panic
or
FTPClient by Vicomsoft

-- MikeRedmond - 16 Oct 2008