Remote Control Windows XP from a MAC

There are other ways to do this but this is the simplest and only requires installing 1 application.

1. Download and install the Remote Desktop Connection application for MAC.
2. On your XP machine, right click My Computer and select properties.
3. Select ‘Allow users to connect remotely to this computer’
4. Get the IP address of your XP machine, open a command prompt and type ipconfig)
5. Back on your MAC, launch the Remote Desktop Connection program and connect using the IP found in step.

You have now connected to your XP machine.  If you wish to change any settings, such as screen size on Remote Desktop, under RDC on the Apple menu, select Preferences. If you are having problems connecting make sure port 3389 is open on the firewall for both the XP machine and your MAC. Remote Desktop Connection uses port 3389 by default.

Another simpler way to access the Remote Desktop preferences is ⌘ + ,
This actually launches preferences for ALL applications on a MAC as far as I know…

There is now a MAC RDP client in the App store for free, you can find it at this link.