Speedier New GoToMyPC 5

Version 5 is twice as fast as the previous version, according to the GoToMyPC folks who gave me a demo of the newly announced version tonight here at CES. Some outside testing by VeriTest puts it about twice as fast as PC Now and LogMeIn for running applications like Word or Excel remotely. You can see the VeriTest report at http://www.veritest.com/clients/reports/citrix/gotomypc.pdf.

A small video clip run off the ESPN Web site showed up ok through the new version, but there was still some choppiness. You'll still know you're accessing a system across the Internet.

Aside from more speed, they added 24-bit color, too. Other new features include being able to drag and drop files between the local and remote desktops and a slider bar to balance between speed and appearance.

Version 5 is the same price, $19.95 a month. If you already have it installed you should be able to right-click on the icon in the system tray and upgrade.