VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a nice utility that will allow you to login, with a graphical environment, to the college's new UNIX machines from just about anywhere. This page will describe how to do that.
If you are using a Mac or a Windows machine, click the appropriate link below to download the VNC viewer for your platform:
These files are themselves small, directly usable executable files. Once you've downloaded them, you should be able to run them with no other configuration. If you are interested in seeing more about VNC, you can visit the VNC home page.
Once you've obtained the VNC viewer, logging in is straightforward. Run the program, and when asked for a machine to which to connect, type the following:
x11.amherst.edu
You should then be presented with a graphical login window. Enter your NT username and password. At this point, you should see the startup sequence begin as the graphical environment is loaded. When it's ready, you can simply click on the icon in the control bar at the bottom of the screen that looks like a terminal in order to get a terminal window and begin working.