Looking for Software Recommendations: Sharing a mouse/keyboard between PC/Mac
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
You're looking for: Synergy - Mouse and Keyboard Sharing Software - Symless[^] I used it in ver.1 and was working well. Probably even better now.
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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 have been working with both PC's and MAC's for several years. Every MAC comes loaded with a VNC server. Turn on remote access on your MAC and download a free VNC client. It's free
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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 which worked quite well between different systems. They used to have a free version but doesn't look like they still do. Synergy - Mouse and Keyboard Sharing Software - Symless[^] Edit: didn't see all of the other replies saying the same thing...
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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
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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
The MAC comes with screen sharing software built in. I currently rely on that to do what you are wanting. I turn on screen sharing on the MAC (not in front of a MAC right now to tell you exactly where to go in settings), and connect with it through the free software client VNCViewer. That way you use your existing mouse/keyboard to interact with the MAC. Not perfect, but it works quite well and it's free.
Ken Lavigne
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There's a remote desktop available for the mac (to RD into the PC) from microsoft. Get started with Remote Desktop on Mac | Microsoft Docs[^] I've not tried it but the price is agreeable (free). I'd start there. It'll probably also let you copy files between the systems. That way also saves on the screen too - the PC would be a [minimisable/sizeable] window on the mac. If you run the mac multi-monitor you could dedicate one to the PC when doing tasks on both.
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I've used Remote Desktop this way myself. Have the one computer (the Mac) set up to use both screens. The use Remote Desktop to connect to the Windows computer and maximize that remote window on the secondary monitor. Now your Mac is the one screen and the Windows PC is the other.
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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
have you tried synergy? I saw it free
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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
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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 for years to share my mouse/keyboard between Win/Mac/Linux machines.
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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
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I'm specifically trying to avoid buying hardware, among other things because I don't want to be hammering the next computer button all day long. A decade ago I had a PC only program that shared my input between multiple windows computers. I just moused from one to the next the same as if they were 2 monitors, the only difference was that I couldn't drag windows across. It just worked, but that was long enough ago that I don't recall the applications name; and would want something known to be good now.
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
Synergy perhaps? I've used it for years - was free once upon a time. Appears now, not so free https://symless.com/synergy/pricing but not too expensive either.
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Synergy perhaps? I've used it for years - was free once upon a time. Appears now, not so free https://symless.com/synergy/pricing but not too expensive either.
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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
You can use TeamViewer. This is what I do. I have a MAC Mini. I also have a KVM with a button I hit. But I found I like the TeamViewer screen on my other monitor. Now, I run Dual Monitors on Windows, and a single monitor on the Mac. It freaks the kids out when you move the mouse from the MAC screen over to the PC Screen!
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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 feel your pain. I am currently working on a Linux/Windows setup of four computers, 6 monitors. I use a combination of Stardock's Multiplicity and X-Windows to work from one keyboard/mouse/sound card. Unfortunately, Stardock doesn't support Macs. Multiplicity is like Synergy--as the mouse leaves the edge of one screen/system, it automatically switches to the next screen/system. And it does support multiple monitors on each system. Sound from outboard systems can be piped to the keyboard/mouse attached system. Cut and paste between systems works like a champ. I sometimes do things like copy an error message on one system, mouse over to another system and paste the message into Google search. That way, I can keep the entire error situation on the screen and do an exact search on another. It also supports drag-and-drop of files between systems. I don't use this feature all that much but it's nice to have it available. For Linux systems access, I bring up X-Windows on a Windows system, then use Multiplicity between Windows monitors. I highly recommend Multiplicity for anyone who has to work with multiple Windows systems. Maybe you could configure a remote access to the Mac from another Windows system running Multiplicity? It's relatively inexpensive--something like $40 to support 9 computers. Hope this helps.
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I've used Remote Desktop this way myself. Have the one computer (the Mac) set up to use both screens. The use Remote Desktop to connect to the Windows computer and maximize that remote window on the secondary monitor. Now your Mac is the one screen and the Windows PC is the other.
I actually use VNC to get a remote desktop on the Mac. But then, my primary desktop is Linux. On Windows, you can install one of the free VNC clients (TinyVNC/TigerVNC??) If your primary desktop is Mac, it makes more sense to use RDP (eg using the free rdesktop client) to connect to the Windows box. Also, it is quite feasible to run Windows in a virtual machine on your Mac - just use the the free VirtualBox software on Mac, and install a copy of Windows. I haven't run Windows natively for years - it runs really great as a Virtual Machine. The reverse, running MacOSX on a virtual machine is possible, but hard (Apple try to make it deliberately difficult). See Living la vida Hackintosh | High Performance Coder[^] for more details. I'd love it if Apple made available for purchase a copy of MacOSX for use in a Virtual Machine like Microsoft does. I'd buy it.