The new Raspberry Pi Desktop for PC and Mac lets you control your computer remotely via Connect

Published Oct 6, 2026, 10:21 AM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. Sign in to your XDA account Summary New Raspberry Pi Desktop released, built on 64-bit Debian Trixie (won't run on 32-bit machines). Raspberry Pi Connect now supports PCs and Macs - remote-control your computer via the Connect website. Download the ISO, write it to USB, boot it, and run the included installer to install Raspberry Pi Desktop. People love the Raspberry Pi Desktop so much that plenty of them run on things that aren't even SBCs, including PCs and Macs. And while Raspberry Pi does have a version of Desktop for larger machines, it hasn't been updated in a while. Fortunately, the company has fixed that with a brand new version, and this one comes with a killer Raspberry Pi Connect feature that lets you control your computer remotely. The new Raspberry Pi Desktop lets you use Connect to control your computer It's available for both PCs and Macs running on an Intel chip Credit: Raspberry Pi As announced on the Raspberry Pi website, a new version of Raspberry Pi Desktop has been released. It's based on the 64-bit version of Debian Trixie, which means that it won't run on 32-bit machines, but that shouldn't be too much of a concern if you own a PC that's even relatively recent. The new version also adds support for Raspberry Pi Connect for PCs and Macs. Usually, you'd use Raspberry Pi Connect to log into your Pi remotely; now that it's a part of Desktop, you can also control your computer with it. Setup is a little bit different than with Raspberry Pis, which use their unique identifiers during registration; instead, you give your computer a name before it can be registered via Raspberry Pi Connect. Once done, you can then visit the Connect website and remote into your computer using it. If you'd like to give it a try, head over to the Raspberry Pi Desktop page, grab the ISO, and put it on a USB. Boot into it, then use the included installer to get it up and running.