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Developed and primarily maintained by Simon Tatham, PuTTY is an open-source application making use of network protocols like Telnet and rlogin in Windows and UNIX platforms in conjunction with an xterm terminal emulator. Over a network, PuTTY makes use of all the above protocols to enable a remote session on a computer. It is a popular tool for text-based communication and is also a popular utility for connecting Linux servers from Microsoft operating system-based computers.
Techopedia Explains PuTTY
The primary goal of PuTTY is to become a multi-platform application capable of executing in most operating systems. It can be considered like an xterm terminal for most purposes. It even specifies its terminal type as xterm to the server; although this can be reconfigured. Most features like port forwarding and public keys are available through the command line options. The main window of PuTTY has the session which runs on the remote computer and through which one can send the commands directly to the remote computer. For reducing the unpredictability of random data, PuTTY makes use of a random number seed file which is usually stored in PUTTY.RND file. With regards to cut and paste features, PuTTY can be customized to act similarly to xterm.
PuTTY provides some distinct advantages, especially when working remotely. It is easier to configure and is more stable. It is also more persistent in comparison to others, as a remote session can be resumed as soon the connection is restored after an interruption. It has an easy-to-use graphical user interface. Many variations on the secure remote terminal are supported by PuTTY. Some terminal control sequences like the Linux console sequences which are unsupported by xterm are supported by PuTTY.
