Looking for Software Recommendations: Sharing a mouse/keyboard between PC/Mac
-
The same way mousing from one monitor to the next works. 0) Install the software on both computers. 1) Set your config so that Computer 1 is to the left of computer 2. 2) Then when your mouse cursor reaches the rightmost edge of computer 1's screen the software on comp1 starts intercepting and sending mouse and keyboard data to computer 2 which sends keyboard/mouse input commands to that systems OS. 3) Then when you attempt to mouse past the leftmost edge of computer 2's screen it stops sending the input too computer 2 and allows computer 1 to handle it again. The one I used years ago also shared the clipboard contents the same way. Under the hood I suspect in windows it just used global input hooks to capture the user input, that's what I did when I wrote an app to send them to another system over RS232 (yay for proprietary input standards on custom hardware). I'm not sure if you can inject the input the same way or would need to write a driver to do so. I never looked into the technical details though; it just worked.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
Did he not write something like one computer being a PC and the other being a Mac?
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
-
Between the lines I thought I read 'WIN laptop and mac'. He would need these services on both.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
Just right... There are solutions for that...
Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
-
Between the lines I thought I read 'WIN laptop and mac'. He would need these services on both.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
-
Did he not write something like one computer being a PC and the other being a Mac?
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
Yes I did.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
-
OriginalGriff wrote:
not too sure how that would work
It works as a master-slave service-ring... However in contrasts to the hardware solution you have to have separate monitors for each computer...
Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
You can get KM switches which are a lot cheaper than the KVM versions, if you want separate monitors (which can help, and can be confusing, all at the same time!). I'd certainly prefer it to the software solution, if only because it'll work even if the master computer isn't switched on, or even working.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
-
For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
Use a virtual machine. :~
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
-
Yes I did.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
Oooops. :-) Sorry, I was distracted by the boss. He rambled about something he calls work.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
-
Use a virtual machine. :~
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
A VM can't: 0) use the screen in my second laptop. 1) Be OSX on my PC. 2) Have access to all of my configured windows software on my PC if running on the mac. 3) Run acceptably fast as a windows VM on the old macbook I've got.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
-
Stardock synergy?
-
You can get KM switches which are a lot cheaper than the KVM versions, if you want separate monitors (which can help, and can be confusing, all at the same time!). I'd certainly prefer it to the software solution, if only because it'll work even if the master computer isn't switched on, or even working.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
...and a nice reliable cable solutions cost half of the price of the supported (not free) version of the software one...
Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
-
Oooops. :-) Sorry, I was distracted by the boss. He rambled about something he calls work.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
Ugh, how rude. :rolleyes:
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
-
For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
Remote desktop? /ravi
My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com
-
Ugh, how rude. :rolleyes:
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
Not really. A good boss was just what I needed after some really bad ones.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
-
A VM can't: 0) use the screen in my second laptop. 1) Be OSX on my PC. 2) Have access to all of my configured windows software on my PC if running on the mac. 3) Run acceptably fast as a windows VM on the old macbook I've got.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
Well, if you're going to be picky ... :laugh:
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
-
For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
I've used Synergy in the past, works well (Im now using Mouses without boarders from MS) [Synergy - Mouse and Keyboard Sharing Software - Symless](https://symless.com/synergy)
Common sense is admitting there is cause and effect and that you can exert some control over what you understand.
-
For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
As others have recommended, Synergy. Awesome product.
Latest Article - Code Review - What You Can Learn From a Single Line of Code Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny Artificial intelligence is the only remedy for natural stupidity. - CDP1802
-
For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
It's not free, but not expensive either: I have been using Synergy for years for exactly the same purpose. It now costs $19 for the basic version, which is probably what you want. The Pro version for $49 will get you also clipboard sharing (and a lot of other things which are still in development), but for the basic keyboard/mouse sharing the cheapest version should be fine. I believe they have a money-back guarantee too. If you really want to squeeze out the last penny, the source code for the core component is available on GitHub. You will have to compile the C++ code yourself and check out the docs and code to find out how to configure it. I would probably go with the 1.8.8 version in that case.
- Kris
-
For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
-
For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt
Back in the day, I used "Synergy" for that. It worked then, but have not used it in years... AFAIK it still exists in a free version though.
-
Stardock synergy?
I used Synergy some years ago to do exactly what the OP wants amongst Windows and Linux boxen. It was also supposed to work with Macs. Once you get used to it, you just mouse from one machine to the next without worrying where the input is going to. It worked really well.
