You don’t need a hardware switch to share one keyboard and mouse amongst several different computers. All you need is the free, cross-platform application, Synergy.Synergy connects one keyboard and mouse to any computer on your network, making a dual- or triple-computer setup work more like a dual- or triple-monitor setup. Synergy even allows you to share clipboard data across your computers and operating systems.
Today I’ll detail how to set up Synergy on your home network to control all of your desktops with one mouse and keyboard.
How it works
Synergy uses one computer as a server - that’s the computer that will be sharing its keyboard and mouse. The rest of your computers - the ones you want to control - will need to be set up as Synergy clients.
The great part about Synergy is that you can customize the program to work with the layout of your computers. For example, if you’ve got your MacBook running to the left of your Windows PC, you can set up Synergy so that moving your mouse to the left of your Windows monitor will seamlessly jump your mouse across virtual space where it lands safely on your Mac. Whichever desktop currently holds your mouse is also the desktop to which your keyboard’s keystrokes will be sent. Make sense? Add to that Synergy’s clipboard sharing and you’ve got one helluva convergence app.
Click here for detailed install instructions (ignore the “Hack Attack” in the heading, this is not a hack by any means, and probably doesn’t do the original post any justice.)
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