{"slug": "parsec", "name": "Parsec", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 1, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 2.148, "rising": -0.33, "first": "2025-12-14", "latest": "2026-10-07", "why": "I do work off my Windows laptop from my Mac via Parsec (remote viewing software for gaming)", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 4, "compare": 1, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": false, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I do work off my Windows laptop from my Mac via Parsec (remote viewing software for gaming)", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Parsec"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 763423696, "item_id": 47713981, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47713981", "by": "vhiremath4", "date": "2026-04-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I do work off my Windows laptop from my Mac via Parsec (remote viewing software for gaming)", "excerpt": "This looks really cool. I have never colo'd my laptop, but I do work off my Windows laptop from my Mac via Parsec (remote viewing software for gaming) and by flipping system settings so my Windows machine never turns off when connected to the power bank and lid is closed. There are obviously hiccups (if internet goes out, if Windows decides to restart from an update, etc.), but it mostly just works and I think I've o", "context": "CAD user working from Mac", "use_case": "remote access to Windows machine", "switched_from": "", "story": "Old laptops in a colo as low cost servers"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "vhiremath4", "context": "CAD user working from Mac", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47713981", "date": "2026-04-09"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["remote desktop", "remote game streaming", "remote control windows pc", "remote access to windows machine", "share video and controller input"], "compared": [{"slug": "geforce-now", "name": "GeForce Now", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "tailscale", "name": "Tailscale", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49985664", "title": "AnyPS5: Port PS5 binaries to PC without emulation (87% system libraries mapped)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49139703", "title": "Ask HN: Anyone still do work on Intel Macs?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48972970", "title": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47707477", "title": "Old laptops in a colo as low cost servers", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46414570", "title": "Ask HN: What are you building as a side-project or side-hustle in 2026?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46264491", "title": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (December 2025)", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"neutral": 1, "compare": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 799810865, "item_id": 49988179, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49988179", "by": "Foxhuls", "date": "2026-10-07", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "remote streaming through parsec", "excerpt": "I\u2019m talking about cloud streaming though I used to do local streaming through steam and remote streaming through parsec. GeForce now in my experience has worked better than either of those options running on my own hardware regardless of the hardware being local occasionally.", "context": "", "use_case": "remote game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "AnyPS5: Port PS5 binaries to PC without emulation (87% system libraries mapped)"}, {"id": 786269841, "item_id": 49141865, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49141865", "by": "leoprctmp", "date": "2026-08-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Parsec to remotely control my Windows PC", "excerpt": "I use a 2019 27-inch iMac every day. I replaced its internal drive with a 1TB SSD myself, and it handles all my work needs perfectly. I use Ghostty for remote server access and Parsec to remotely control my Windows PC.", "context": "", "use_case": "remote control Windows PC", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Anyone still do work on Intel Macs?"}, {"id": 783707330, "item_id": 48981708, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48981708", "by": "dpoloncsak", "date": "2026-07-20", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've used Parsec as well, but sometimes if using a commercial VPN Parsec is unable to connect.", "excerpt": "Steam Link creates an RDP session (I assume their own protocol but for lack of a better term for it) that lets me control my Desktop from my phone. Once I'm remote on the desktop, I can access my home-lab locally instead of via VPN. Before I moved to Tailscale, my self-hosted Wireguard setup was pretty shaky, and was running on an old Pi that had seen better days. It's basically just using Steam to jump-box to my LAN", "context": "", "use_case": "remote desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 763423696, "item_id": 47713981, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47713981", "by": "vhiremath4", "date": "2026-04-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I do work off my Windows laptop from my Mac via Parsec (remote viewing software for gaming)", "excerpt": "This looks really cool. I have never colo'd my laptop, but I do work off my Windows laptop from my Mac via Parsec (remote viewing software for gaming) and by flipping system settings so my Windows machine never turns off when connected to the power bank and lid is closed. There are obviously hiccups (if internet goes out, if Windows decides to restart from an update, etc.), but it mostly just works and I think I've o", "context": "CAD user working from Mac", "use_case": "remote access to Windows machine", "switched_from": "", "story": "Old laptops in a colo as low cost servers"}, {"id": 742848145, "item_id": 46428009, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46428009", "by": "rmonvfer", "date": "2025-12-29", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I\u2019ve managed to get latency and quality on par with Parsec in many scenarios", "excerpt": "I\u2019m slowly working on rigel.sh, a next generation Remote Desktop solution. Not AI related, but I got tired of janky desktop streaming / remote management solutions (I use the windows app on my Mac and Raspberry Pi Connect online) so I decided to build my own. You install a client on the system you want to manage and enroll it with a single command, just like Tailscale. I\u2019ve built a nice web application were users can", "context": "", "use_case": "remote desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you building as a side-project or side-hustle in 2026?"}, {"id": 740272801, "item_id": 46267050, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46267050", "by": "jyapayne", "date": "2025-12-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "through Parsec, through a USB-UART adapter, to the Pico", "excerpt": "I'm working on a hardware/software utility to play Switch/Switch 2 games remotely with my brothers. I found a way to emulate a Switch Pro Controller using a Raspberry Pi Pico based on several different sources (look in the README for more info). I used that to write a firmware for the Pico (with the help of GPT Codex 5.1). Then I wrote a Python program that connects whatever controller my brothers want to use (as lon", "context": "", "use_case": "share video and controller input", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (December 2025)"}]}