ARCHIVED: For Mac OS, what telnet applications are available?

Note: The software discussed here is no longer in common use at Indiana University, and UITS may no longer be able to verify the document's accuracy. The UITS Support Center may no longer have the manuals and other materials required to support this software adequately.

Note: This information does not apply to Mac OS X.

There are a number of freeware and shareware telnet clients for Mac OS. For information about the more popular clients, see below:

BetterTelnet

One of the more prominent successors of NCSA Telnet, BetterTelnet was developed by Rolf Braun and is still available as freeware. Visit BetterTelnet's web site at: http://www.club.cc.cmu.edu/~rbraun/macssh/

MacSSH

MacSSH is an enhanced version of BetterTelnet that includes support for SSH (version 2, only). You may download it from its web site at: http://www.macssh.com/

MacTelnet

Like BetterTelnet, MacTelnet is based on NCSA Telnet. Compared to BetterTelnet, it has a nice interface, but in general is less stable. Kevin Grant is developing MacTelnet; for more information, visit its web site at: http://www.mactelnet.com/

dataComet

dataComet is a flexible telnet application that also functions as a terminal emulator (like ZTerm) and TN3270 client. A secure version is also available that supports Kerberized telnet and SSH. It is not free, but can be downloaded as shareware. For more information, see the dataComet web site at: http://www.databeast.com/

NCSA Telnet

NCSA Telnet was once the most popular telnet client for Mac OS, and several modern programs were originally based on its code. However, as development on it ceased in the mid-1990s, it isn't widely used any longer. It is still available for download from: ftp://ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Mac/Telnet/Telnet2.7/2.7b4/

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