Synergy

While there are some fairly obvious downsides to the Synergy software, many people would find it to be an essential tool in their daily workflow. The concept behind the software is excellent. It grants you the ability to control all your computer systems with a single mouse and keyboard as if they were all one big integrated computer. You move between screens simply by moving the cursor off the edge of one screen in the direction of another. The cursor will appear on the second screen as if it arrived from the first screen. Another interesting tool built into Synergy is the ability to cut and paste across all your systems, regardless of their general compatibility. This is due to the way Synergy merges your clipboards. It will also treat your screen savers across all systems as one single system, so they all activate and dismiss at the same time. If you've enabled a lock screen for your system, you only have to enter your password on one of the screens to open all of them. Synergy is entirely open-source, which means it is free to use and modify in any way you wish. It could be called an alternative to the standard KVM switch. However, it doesn't simply loop several systems through a single hardware structure. Instead, it actually allows each system to remain independent while the software synchronizes the peripherals across all the systems. Some users have suggested that the KVM switch is the better option due to the difficulty of the Synergy software in terms of configuration. It has trouble finding exact server locations and system names. Of course, if you can properly configure the software, it becomes seamless and quite useful. Using Synergy isn't difficult, but it's also not very creative. All it takes is a quick movement between screens with the mouse, and you can set up the software so that any side of the monitor can work as a switching location. That means the software will work if you have multiple systems with monitors set up in a grid. All you have to do is set a main monitor and the software will allow switching from that default location. Even with the difficulty of the software, it is easily one of the most intuitive and natural screen sharing systems available on the market. Once the software is set up, you'll forget all about it beyond simply using it to control you various computers. Since the software is completely free, there's no real reason not to at least try Synergy.

Decent software, very convenient to use when working with multiple computers. Setup isn't too complicated, but had to look online to get it to work properly. The clip board sharing feature is pretty handy however it only worked for text. It was advertised to allow file drag ang drop across computers but that feature was never implemented. The company quickly moved on from their Synergy 1 and started to promise great improvements on their next product - Synergy 2. Its been a year and nothing changed its still as incomplete as it was, and so ive went back to the more reliable and versatile Synergy 1. Its the lack of development and irresponsible customer support that drags this great software down, when you run in to problems they just push you to either buy the Synergy 2 and wait for the "upcoming features" or say its not their problem. Ive had a laptop screen ruined from moving the mouse across a fullscreen app and it broke something in the screen and leaving lines of dead pixels even after a system reinstall.

No trial no try no buy