{{Short description|Free remote desktop software}} {{More citations needed|article|date=August 2008}} {{lowercase title|rdesktop}} {{Infobox software | name = rdesktop | logo = | screenshot = Rdesktop-ON WIN 95.jpg | screenshot size = 200px | caption = rdesktop connected to a Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition host | developer = rdesktop team | released = {{Start date and age|2001|04|04}} | latest release version = 1.9.0 | latest release date = {{Start date and age|2019|10|11}} | operating system = Unix-like<br />Microsoft Windows<REF NAME="WinNT">[http://40in.2g0.ru/rdesktop_win32/ windows build]</ref> <small>(unofficial)</small> | genre = Microsoft Remote Desktop Services client | license = GPL-3.0-or-later | discontinued = yes }}
'''rdesktop''' is an implementation of a client software for Microsoft's proprietary Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). rdesktop is free and open-source software, subject to the requirements of the GNU General Public License (GPL-3.0-or-later), and is available for Linux and BSD as well as for Microsoft Windows.
As of August 2013, rdesktop implements a large subset of the RDP 5 protocol. Unlike Remote Desktop Connection in modern versions of Windows, rdesktop still supports the older RDP 4.0 protocol used by Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition and Windows 2000 Server.
== Feature set ==
RDP5 features supported: * Bitmap caching * File system, audio, serial port and printer port redirection * Mappings for most international keyboards * Stream compression and encryption * Automatic authentication * Smartcard support * RemoteApp like support called "seamless" mode via Seamless RDP * Network Level Authentication
Still unimplemented are: * Client redirection upon reconnect (of disconnected session)<ref>http://forums.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=5398718 {{User-generated source|date=August 2022}}</ref> * Remote Assistance requests * USB device redirection
Support for the additional features available in RDP 5.1 and RDP 6 (including multi-head display spanning, window composition and console connection) have not yet been implemented, although some, such as RDP 6 Bulk Compression,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-rdpegdi/1bfeaea6-bba7-4d09-893b-b47f127c94d5 |title=3.1.8.1 RDP 6.0 |work=[MS-RDPEGDI]: Remote Desktop Protocol: Graphics Device Interface (GDI) Acceleration Extensions |publisher=Microsoft}}</ref> RDP 6 Bitmap Compression,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-rdpegdi/0d2e1a03-e123-46b2-b2b8-ed730a794ae4?redirectedfrom=MSDN |title=3.1.9 RDP 6.0 Bitmap Compression |work=[MS-RDPEGDI]: Remote Desktop Protocol: Graphics Device Interface (GDI) Acceleration Extensions |publisher=Microsoft}}</ref> and the RDP 6.0 GDI Acceleration Extension<ref>{{cite web |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-rdpegdi/2baf6635-46d6-4f32-9824-00c41d9b5c81?redirectedfrom=MSDN |title=1.3.2.1 RDP 6.0 |work=[MS-RDPEGDI]: Remote Desktop Protocol: Graphics Device Interface (GDI) Acceleration Extensions |publisher=Microsoft}}</ref> have been officially documented on Microsoft Learn.
==Use== Rdesktop is commonly used on desktop ReactOS and Linux installations to connect to Microsoft Windows running Remote Desktop Services. There are many GUI clients, like tsclient, Gnome-RDP and KDE Remote Desktop Connection (KRDC), which are graphical front-ends to rdesktop. The program has also been integrated into several thin client Linux distributions like Thinkstation and the PC TSC project, as well as some thin client appliances.<ref>[https://bestbuyrdp.com/usa-admin-rdp/ USA Admin RDP]</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Free and open-source software}} * xrdp – an implementation of a server software for RDP * Comparison of remote desktop software
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.freerdp.com FreeRDP] – a fork of rdesktop that is further developed under the Apache License *[http://www.kde.org/applications/internet/krdc/ KRDC] - KDE Remote Desktop Connection *[https://sourceforge.net/projects/gnome-rdp/ Gnome-RDP] - GNOME front-end for rdesktop *[http://xrdp.sourceforge.net xrdp] - RDP server for Unix, based on rdesktop *[https://cord.sourceforge.net/ CoRD] - A native Cocoa interface for the OS X port of rdesktop. *[https://properjavardp.sourceforge.net/ properJavaRDP] - rdesktop-based Free Java Remote Desktop Connection Client *[http://www.soren.schimkat.dk/Blog/?p=69 Rdesktop-Win32] - Win32 build of rdesktop
Category:Free network-related software Category:Free software programmed in C Category:Thin clients Category:Remote desktop software for Linux Category:Software using the GNU General Public License