The new interface is terrible, and makes Slashdot just one more foofoo website in the sea of countless others. The day I'm forced off of the classic interface is the day I'm leaving and not coming back. Will be a sad day too considering I've been coming here for more than a decade, but c'est la vie.

What you're looking for doesn't exist. VNC is great, but without the middleman you're never going to have ease-of-use for the people you're trying to help... they're going to give up trying to get port-forwards set up on their router long before you actually get in to help them.

Logmein / Teamviewer / etc is what is needed, and just plain works. If you have to choose one, it should be Teamviewer... can run client and support on all three specified platforms, and the QuickSupport option on Windows is a godsend - nothing like telling a client / grandma / whoever to simply download and run a small executable to let you in and help them.