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Mouse Without Borders

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Several months ago, I was discussing a common problem I face all the time: I have multiple machines, but when I’m at my desk, I don’t want to have to use multiple keyboards and mice.

I started with hardware solutions.  I looked for a KVM switch that would serve my purposes.  I looked all over the place, and was incredibly disappointed.  Most every KVM that I found ONLY used VGA video connections, and the ones that dared venture into the world of HDMI were marked up so high I couldn’t justify the price.

What is $220 more expensive about HDMI?

IOGEAR 2-Port VGA KVM Switch IOGEAR 4-Port HDMI KVM Switch

$19.99

$244.86

So I mentioned this issue to my friend, Kevin Dutkiewicz, and he suggested a software solution instead.  Mouse Without Borders.  He had a laptop sitting next to his dual monitor gaming rig, and merely slid his mouse from those giant screens to his laptop screen effortlessly.  He clicked on a browser, and started typing a URL, and it worked.  I was impressed. 

No effort.  No switching.  No nothing.  Just move your mouse.  That’s it.  It seemed too good to be true.  Oh, and it’s free.

I’ve included a video of my setup, which includes three different computers (a Dell XPS 8500 with dual monitors, a Samsung Series 7 Slate running Windows 8 CP, and a Samsung Series 9 laptop running Windows 7.)  I think that seeing this effect is far more compelling than reading about it.  So here it is:

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3 responses to “Mouse Without Borders”

  1. Jason Karns Avatar

    I wish I could love Mouse Without Borders. I’ve tried it numerous times with various machines and I always have to revert to the extremely complicated, user-unfriendly Synergy. MWB has a terrible time with many corporate machines due to its interactions with the firewall (according to the error messages). In my experience, it does just fine with any home user system or any system that uses Windows’ built-in firewall. Throw it on a machine that is using McAfee and you’ll get nothing but errors. So much potential, though.

  2. Matt Casto Avatar

    I used another application called Synergy for this a while back – http://synergy-foss.org/

    A few years ago I was on site with a client where I wanted to use my personal laptop as a second monitor but I couldn’t connect it to the client’s network and no open wifi was available. The work machine my client gave me was a laptop on a docking station, so its wifi card wasn’t in use. I created an ad-hoc network between my client’s laptop and my personal laptop, and ran Synergy using that network connection. Worked great, but I’m not sure what their IT dept. would have thought if they’d found out. 😀

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