Leopard's Screen Sharing vs. Apple Remote Desktop

One question I’ve been asked ever since Apple announced screen sharing as a part of Leopard is whether this means larger organizations still need Apple Remote Desktop. The answer is yes in many cases. Remote observation and control are small parts of what Apple Remote Desktop can do. It also offers a wide range of remote deployment tools as well as an extensive set of reporting and asset management features. These features are sometimes even more useful than simple remote observation and management. Even with the observation and control functionality, Apple Remote Desktop offers a broader set of tools in that it allows users to build lists of multiple computers to observe. These lists are not only used for viewing computers but display the current status of those computers even when a computer is not being explicitly viewed. Apple Remote Desktop also allows administrators to determine whether users are aware they are being monitored, to monitor several computers at once, and to use curtain mode (in which users of a computer cannot interact with it while it is being controlled remotely). User interaction is also not just limited to observe and control, it also offers the ability to send messages, chat, and respond to requests from users. Although screen sharing is a great new feature, it is not one that replaces Apple Remote Desktop in the education or business setting.